CYCLISTS PROPOSE ROUTES THROUGH COUNTY

Sunday, November 9, 2008

THEY PEDDLE BIKE LANES, SMOOTHER PAVEMENT TO OFFICALS

A few bike advocates recently handed St. Joseph County commissioners a dream. It's a map with a web of rural bike routes linking the far corners from Walkerton to Granger and beyond.

Cyclists would find wide shoulders with bike lanes.

Bill and Judy Lee know that, for now, the county lacks money to convert the roads. The Walkerton cyclists say this is a start, hoping the county will use it as a long-term plan for roads.

Fellow advocates say bike routes help make cities Boulder, CO and Madison, WI so popular.

The Lees see their map as something St. Joseph County could consider as roads are repaved or rebuilt. And if the county would suggest adjacent roads instead, they say, that's fine.

"Nothing is set in stone," Bill Lee says.

they were careful to chart routes that link with every town in the county and with bike routes in neighboring counties. They developed loops for leisure rides, too.

They're amoung the cyclists who formed the Bike Michiana Coalition this summer to nudge forth several issues.

The Lees also are working with South Bend officials on a network of bike lanes the city is painting on it's streets.

They started looking at county roads a year ago but have cycled the roads for years. they consulted a few other cyclists and some roads marked for decent cycling by the Michiana Area Council on Governments (www.macog.com).

On the busiest roads, like Miami Highway or Bittersweet Road, there would be a five-to-six foot bike lanes on the shoulder.

roads with medium traffic, like Beech Road or Quince road, would have three-to-four bike lanes.

Lightly traveled routes wouldn't have bike lanes. These would either be paved or have fine chip and seal - not the course ship and seal that the Lees say, makes roads so bumpy that they tear up a bicycle.

Commissioner Mark Dobson said the county uses course chip and seal because it's better at supporting tractors and other agricultural machinery.

"We're pretty confident the course chip and seal is better for us", he said.

But the Lees say they see a lot of rural farm roads in La Porte County paved with the fine chip and seal.

Commissioner Robert Kovach suggested the group look into a combination of public and private funding. He also suggested talking with home builders, though county engineer Jessica Clark said, home builders have been pretty adamant against requirements that their neighborhoods include sidewalks.

Dobson said he's "on board" with the cyclist' dreams and sees the benefits. but he also pointed to the lack of money and the need to include other county officials in the planning.

An obstacle, he said, is that Indiana's funds for county road improvements focus on getting from "farm to market." It's outdated, leaving little room for bike amenities, Dobson said.