Richland Moves met at Marvin Memorial Library in Shelby on Tuesday evening to discuss a review of the draft bicycle route map for Shelby. Discussion developed with updates regarding the B&O Bike Trail and there was mention of the 2014 Shelby Bicycle Days.
Richland Moves member Paul Bender praised Shelby’s efforts in creating a bicycle route for the city.
“We wanted to come up here and work with Shelby because it is the second largest urbanized area and you are very supportive of bicycling and walking efforts. I think it is a good fit for extending both Richland Moves and our route mapping effort,” said Bender.
Participants in the meeting discussed the draft of the bicycle route map of Shelby. Bender encouraged participants of the meeting to make edits on the route map draft. The route map draft displayed specific coloring along the routes of Shelby.
“Red was used for poor choice unless you are highly skilled riding in heavy traffic and/or adverse conditions. Yellow was used for caution and the roads may present challenges at peak hours. Green is used for lower traffic roads and more suitable for cyclists,” said Richland Moves member Karyl Price.
“One thing you may want to consider is creating bicycle boulevards off of the main routes where it is much safer and easier to ride and you want to encourage people to ride. This is what many communities have done and this could be a next step to take side streets and create connections,” said Bender.
Auburn Elementary School participated in a walk/bike to school day. “That might be something to work with the schools on in the spring once the weather breaks and help promote another walk/bike to school day,” said Mayor Marilyn John. “It was very successful at Auburn with about 130 kids that participated,” said Price.
Future plans on the bicycle route map draft will be in progress.
Bender made note of updates that have taken place on the B&O Bike Trail. “As a result of a tragic crash and death almost a year and a half ago, safety was reexamined on the trail with the metal poles that are called bollards. We have done research and we found out they are in fact dangerous. We found one trail that is 40 miles long that has removed them all. Over the past year, removal of the center bollards has taken place,” said Bender. “It took a lot of work to get this done,” said Price.
Some events for Bicycle Days 2014 were mentioned at the meeting. “On Thursday night, there will be a bike safety event where all students K-6 in Richland and Crawford counties are going to be invited to a BMX stunt show which will incorporate bicycle safety. We are very excited about this, and it will impact 16,000 students who will be invited from the two counties,” said Cody Albert.
“On Saturday of Bicycle Days, kids will be invited to ride over to the boulevard to decorate their bikes for free and then ride in the parade that will start at 2 p.m. In addition, we will do a helmet fitting. We will welcome all volunteer assistance,” added Albert.
“One thing you may want to consider is creating bicycle boulevards off of the main routes where it is much safer and easier to ride and you want to encourage people to ride,” stated Paul Bender.
