Spokane City Councilman Richard Rush, who stressed pedestrian- and bike-friendly streets during his campaign, has this idea to bridge the cultural divide between bicycle commuters and drivers: Trade places for a week. Hard-core bike commuters would get to work only by car. Hard-core drivers would only use bikes.

Bikers would then understand how it feels to be slowed down by bicyclists during rush hour or how scary it is to narrowly miss hitting an improperly lighted bicycle. Drivers would understand how unnerving it is to be a honked at, flipped off and squeezed onto the side of a road.

The cultural “wars” between the two groups need to be mitigated soon, because ambitious bike plans are in the works for Spokane and the region. The city will hold meetings this week and next to update its master bike plan. And citizens have until April 29 to comment on the draft of the Spokane Regional Transportation Council’s regional bike plan.

Recreational cyclists can choose from several satisfying routes, including the Centennial Trail. But bicycle commuters face unsafe roads and the cultural divide with drivers. Biking advocates believe that if more people used bicycles to get to work and run errands, Spokane would see a big reduction in carbon emissions and traffic congestion.

Only 1 percent of Spokane County residents commute by bike. So both plans speak to a reality that hasn’t yet arrived. The regional plan, for instance, envisions extensive bike boulevards and bicycle boxes painted at intersections where bikes would “idle” at traffic lights. It recommends bike-friendly ordinances. New parking lot projects, for instance, would be required to set aside 10 percent of their space for bicycles.

Non-biking citizens who attend the public meetings should ask the tough questions. Will the funding needed for the plans take away money from other alternative commuting strategies and road improvements? If a biking commute infrastructure is built, will anyone really use it?

Bike advocates need to convince skeptics that Spokane residents will someday embrace bicycle commuting in big enough numbers to justify the expense. They could begin by taking photos of the bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Monroe Street Bridge, due to the construction clogging the Maple/Ash corridor. Now picture an adequate bike lane on that bridge and see how quickly a bicyclist could ride home from work – and into Spokane’s future.