Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Jefferson County may get yet another bicycle trail crossing its boundaries.
Or more aptly put, the county may be getting a realignment of an existing bicycle trail.
In September, two consultants from Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., made a presentation to the commission on a proposed bicycle trail along U.S. Highway 90 from Tallahassee to Monticello that they said would be not unlike the St. Marks Trail.
And last week, Kerry Irons, with the Adventure Cycling Association (ACA), approached the commission to talk about the nationally recognized U.S. Bicycle Route System (USBRS) and its component in Florida, or more specifically in Jefferson County.
The title of Iron’s presentation, which he made to the commission on Thursday evening, Oct. 1, was “Building Bicycle Tourism with the U.S. Bicycle Route System.”
Irons described the USBRS as a national network of numbered and signed bicycle routes that when fully developed will connect 50,000-plus miles of roadways across the country, of which 14,800 miles currently exist in 32 states.
Started in 1982 with the designation of the first routes, the program then lay dormant until 2004, when it was revived and a task force created, leading to the designation of the next new routes in 2011.
The national system reportedly has the blessing of state transportation agencies, such as the Florida Department of Transportation, and also the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), which sets the standards for the design and construction of highways across the United States.
Irons described his own group, the ACA, as a 53,000-member nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the promotion of bicycle travel and tasked with coordinating the expansion of the national bicycle route system.
He noted that an east-to-west bicycle trail already exists in Florida along the U.S. 90 corridor from near St. Augustine on the east coast to Pensacola in the west.
In Jefferson County, he said, the route, which is identified as USBR-90, enters at the Madison County line and travels east into Leon County.
What his group was asking, Irons said, was for the commission to allow the realignment of a portion of the route in Jefferson County, so that it could turn south on State Road 59 (Gamble Road), travel to White House Road, and then go west on White House Road into Leon County.
The reason for realignment, he said, was that it would take bicyclists off U.S. 90 and onto less traveled and hence safer but no less attractive roadways.
The realignment, he said, had the nod from the FDOT. But even so, absent local approval, it wouldn’t happen, he said.
“The local agencies have the final approval,” Irons said, referring to the commission.
He cited three benefits to the realignment: Improved routes for bicycle travelers; positive health and environmental effects for citizens in the way of exercise opportunities and less pollution; and economic development via bicycle tourism.
Irons offered that bicyclists on average spent about $150 daily on food, lodging and other incidentals while they traveled, and said the county could expect to see about 10 bicyclists a day. And while such numbers and expenditures wouldn’t make too big an impact on larger places such as Tallahassee, it could make a difference on smaller communities like Monticello, he said.
Irons offered that the southern tier of the bicycle system, of which north Florida is a part, was one of the shortest and more popular with bicycling tourists, of which thousands made the trip each year.
“We search for the roads that are most attractive to bicyclists,” Irons said.
The realignment, he said, would require no spending on the part of the county, nor would it have to put up any signage, unless it chose to do it.
The next step for the commission, Irons said, was for it to review the proposed reroute for acceptability, and if found acceptable, simply notify the FDOT by letter of the decision or adopt resolution of support. Or if it decided that the change was not acceptable, it could propose an alternative path that was consistent with the rest of the route, he said.
Commission Chairman J. T. Surles questioned if the county’s acceptance of the realignment in any way made the county liable should a bicyclist be injured on one the roads.
Irons noted that anyone could sue if they wanted, regardless of justification. But no, he said, the county was not liable per se.
“The transportation board did a study, and since bicycles are legal road users, there is no liability to the county,” Irons said. “Of course, it doesn’t prevent someone from suing you if they wanted, but there is no inherent liability.”
The board appeared amenable to the idea of the realignment. No commissioner, at least, objected to the proposal, and Commissioner Betsy Barfield, an avid bicyclist herself, expressed enthusiasm for the idea.
As the matter was left, the board indicated that it would take up the issue again at one of its coming meetings, likely the second one in October.