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Half-Mile Bike Trail Not Enough to Inspire People to Ride Bikes

Posted on: Monday, 3 April 2006, 18:00 CDT

By Bill Longenecker

The mystery is over. On March 4, I saw the sign declaring the fancy new sidewalk on the west side of Seminole Road in Atlantic Beach a bike trail. There it is, for about a half-mile on the east side of Oceanwalk.

An official, government-decreed bike trail now replaces a perfectly good sidewalk. I had watched as the solid, straight concrete sidewalk was torn out. I only saw the work site on Saturday mornings when there were no workers to ask why they were taking up good concrete.

Then one Saturday, a wider, slightly bending sidewalk appeared for about a block. "Wow!" I thought sarcastically, "What a great improvement." It took a while, but that stretch is now complete for about a half-mile. "Wow!" I say in print, "What a silly waste of city money."

Careful observers will also find another leg of the bike path/ trail. It runs west for about a half-mile along Plaza starting at the five-points intersection at the fire station in Atlantic Beach.

Making essentially a wider sidewalk with a gentle curve will not inspire people to use bikes. It will not encourage even dedicated riders to seek out those half-mile stretches. When and if the whole bike trail is completed, I may change my sarcastic review of this project.

The project has the feel-good aroma of those who have no clue. They probably don't ride bikes, but they decided to offer riders this taste of a bike path.

I have long said that this community is bike safe for those truly willing to ride in lieu of unnecessary car use. The original sidewalk was just fine. Too few walkers ever used the old sidewalk. The few bikers could easily make room or momentarily slip off it because walkers take precedence.

It did not, nor will the new wider version likely convince the sport utility vehicle drivers to garage their beasts and use people- power for short commutes or errands.

Those drawn to constant car power are like those cigarette smokers whose butts littered Town Center on a recent Sunday morning. Car overuse will come before common sense even at the bike-safe Beaches, just as smokers toss butts on the ground, in disdain of nonsmokers or simple arrogance.

The Beaches would be even nicer if smokers did not leave their waste just anywhere they choose. A personal note is embarrassing. My sainted mother was a heavy smoker who kept a neat, clean home. She would drop cigarette waste anywhere outside and not explain why.

The Beaches would be an even nicer place if residents would make every Saturday or Sunday "Bike Day." During the annual Dancin' in the Streets festival in Town Center at the foot of Atlantic Boulevard, we have a hint of how nice it could be. That day, everyone seems to be a biker.

The Beaches would be an even nicer place if surfers and anglers could simply leave each other alone at the pier. Both activities seem to attract a certain few members who are belligerent, bull- headed, insensitive or ignorant.

The Beaches would be an even better place if city governments would realize that the renovation projects and knock-down-to-build projects would generate enough new money to lower the property taxes for the rest of us.

It's funny. (Not really.) Government officials who may even claim to hate raising taxes seem to see no problem with raising property- tax rates or, at least, not lowering them. An incredible number of expensive projects have been built in the last, say, five years. To this mere columnist, it seems obvious that property-tax revenue must be increasing as a natural response.

Yet, maybe it is this same kind of people who think replacing a fine stretch of sidewalk with a wider stretch of sidewalk is a good idea. Just give it a cute name. "Bike trail."

The Beaches would be an even better place if parents riding bikes with their children would wear helmets if they make the kids do so. First Street family biking traffic has greatly increased of late. Parents are just such hypocrites when they go without a helmet. Kids learn from what parents do more than what they say.

The Beaches would be an even better place if more people would take a walk on the beach at dawn. That just might indicate a good night's sleep thanks to an early bedtime. It helps set such a fine tone for the day. Porpoises and pelican flight teams often offer free shows during the trip.

The Beaches would be an even better place if more people would just find a positive way to solve problems and not just write columns about them.

Bill Longenecker is a freelance writer who lives in Neptune Beach.

Source: Florida Times Union

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