Here in West Chester, PA, we have nothing in place to support folks biking to work. We have many roads that are narrow with no shoulders, we have no bike lanes and we have no bike to school safely routes either. There seems to be little interest in providing anything for the residents of Chester County. Car is king in the burbs!
We have had the Chester Valley Trail in progress for 20 yrs, when, if ever built, will provide a bike route from WC to King of Prussia. This trail should have been completed years ago. I just hope I am not dead by the time this trail completes.
My boro council should be right now making plans to get a bike lane in place to connect the boro to the Chester Valley Trail. Right now there is no way to get to the trail from the boro except by car. The roads to the trail have NO shoulders at all and carry high speed traffic. This leaves the kids in the boro unable to access the trail. What does my boro council do?? talk about how to keep West Chester historical. Well it is historical alright, good for horse and buggies on the back roads.
The boro streets are jammed with cars and absolutely no places for bikes. No bike racks either.
When PennDOT resurfaces roads, what do they choose out here in Chester County??? tar and chip, the worst surface known to mankind for the cyclist.
Counties with high traffic roads get macadam, we would not want the cars on rough roads. Biking out in the burbs is not for the faint hearted. You must be in good enough shape to cover 15-20 miles, about the average commute to work, you must have a good bike and good bike gear.
If we had some decent bike trails, which tend to be flat, more folks could bike. And more folks could bike with less than great bikes. Biking in my county is a hilly job. Biking in my county requires gears and shifting knowledge. Biking in the burbs is a sport and not for commuting. Too bad!
1 comment:
Start a bike and pedestrian advocacy group! Hang out at your local Farmers' Market, and you will find like-minded people (they might just write the check, not give their time, but even that helps show politicians that there is support for bike infrastructure.) Go to Council meetings and speak up regularly. You can make a difference! We are doing just that in central New Jersey with the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance (wwbpa.org) and there are other groups like us.
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