Missouri Bicycle News

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a long article today on the issues related to the planned closing of Hwy 40 for construction.

That planned freeway closing has prompted area officials to re-vamp roads parallel to and near Hwy 40 to prepare for the higher traffic volumes that are anticipated.

Those changes have made those roads more difficult for bicycle use in many cases.

TrailNet and the St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation have been working with area cities, counties, and agencies to improve the situation, and have had some good results.

Bob Foster, who lives in the 200 block of Spring Avenue in Webster Groves, said he rides his bicycle to work more than 100 days a year from his home in Webster Groves to his office in Creve Coeur. He said he has noticed changes on his ride at certain intersections along major streets that he uses.Foster is preparing for increased traffic along the streets he uses as part of I-64 closes. . . .

Steve Sleet, program manager of Trailnet, said his agency is working in collaboration with the county traffic department, the county parks department and the bicycle federation to identify bike-friendly routes between Spoede Road and Forest Park that bypass most of the roads that will take on more motorists.

He said they are all working together to create alternative bike routes and to have maps available online.

"The county will put up more "bike route" signs and "share the road" signs on roads that are popular with bicyclists and are expected to see a big increase in motor vehicle traffic," Sleet said.

The article also reports on a recent incident in Webster Groves involving regular commuting bicyclist Rachel Abbot:

"At 5:40 p.m. a police officer turned on his lights and pulled me over," Abbott said. "When I questioned about my offense, he said I can't be riding on the street 10 miles per hour impeding traffic, and that I had to ride on the sidewalk. This was confusing to me because I was riding all the way to the right, and there are two lanes of traffic flowing in each direction."

The Missouri Bicycle Federation, the St. Louis Bicycle Federation, TrailNet, and many individual bicyclists contacted Webster Groves about this incident.

The Webster Groves police chief reports that the police department will educate all officers about Missouri bicycle law to make sure that any future enforcement efforts are in compliance with the law. permanent link to article: "Hwy 40 construction in St. Louis present challenges, opportunities for bicyclists"
posted by Brent Hugh at 12/19/2007 09:01:00 AM |comment on this article