Cyclists can be frustrating, but bike trail important to local economy

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August 8, 2010

Anonymous The News Courier Sun Aug 08, 2010, 02:00 AM CDT

— Signage on Limestone County’s bike trail — and, more specifically, who is funding it —

has become a hot topic of conversation in The News Courier’s Letters to the Editor section of late.

In today’s letters, local resident Deborah King writes that the county’s Share the Road signs cost taxpayers $88,000. As is typical, we called the county to check facts to ensure we did not disseminate any inaccurate information.

County Engineer Richard Sanders said the signs were purchased with a $95,759 federal grant for transportation enhancement. This grant is the same one that helped fund Rails-to-Trails and other local signs, Sanders said.

The Limestone County Commission put in $12,093 toward the Share the Road signs and the local Parks and Recreation Board supplied $5,797 in funds that had been donated. The City of Athens put in $1,217 and The Town of Elkmont paid $216.

Sanders said there are 527 signposts along the 105-mile bike route and 980 signs. Some posts hold two signs, he said.

A resident in the eastern part of the county is discussing the possibility of raising private funds to help install more signs in that area, Sanders said, but plans have not been finalized.

While we realize federal grant money comes from taxpayers, we also understand that programs such as these to install signs to encourage safety on the roads are important. We have not reached a point were cyclists are licensed, as resident Kenneth Burns suggests in a letter today, and until we do or until bikers are banned from the same roads traveled by cars, drivers do need to be aware of others who are on the roads.

Also, the Limestone County Bike Trail is a tourist attraction that draws people to our area. Particularly in this economy, it is important for Limestone County to offer as many amenities as it can.

We understand the frustration and danger that comes when motorists happen suddenly on a slow-moving cyclist in the road. All the more reason, with current laws, to be sure we drive with caution.

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