St. Augustine Record: City needs bicycle friendliness

Our view: City lacks bicycle friendliness
Posted: January 19, 2011 - 12:00am

One would think that St. Augustine, the nation's oldest city with a slower pace than larger cities, would be one of Florida's most bicycle friendly communities. If all that bicyclists are looking for are leisure rides in quaint neighborhoods amid slower traffic, then it is. But if bicyclists want paths to carry them through the city itself and beyond, well, good luck.

And if bicyclists are also looking for trailheads -- rest areas for cyclists and pedestrians -- St. Augustine doesn't have them either. The closest is at Vilano Beach.

St. Augustine City Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline is on the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization's governing board. She was surprised at the lack of St. Augustine facilities and paths as she reviewed countywide transportation maps and the state's transportation project priority lists.

"There's this gaping hole -- no real trails through St. Augustine," she said with astonishment.

That's hard to believe when we see so many bicyclists inside the city limits on the mainland or Anastasia Island. But, we also did not see paths, route signs or trailheads either. We saw bike racks in the Plaza de la Constitucion that have been there for decades, signs pointing to public restrooms downtown and parts of bicycle paths on state highways inside the city limits.

Sikes-Kline has the support of the TPO and on Saturday, a consulting firm will be in St. Augustine to hear local views at two locations. What people, cyclists or not, have to say to the consultant, will weigh on a forthcoming plan.

To get started, go to the TPO's website at www.northfloridatpo.com. Look under "Help identify bicycling routes in St. Augustine." Saturday's meetings are at the farmers market at the Amphitheatre, 9 a.m. until noon, and at the picnic area adjacent to the city's parking garage entrance, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., by Swing Park.

Come prepared. Download the TPO's bicycle plan input form and a bicycle base map and bring them with you. You can also send them in to the DOT if you can't make the meetings. It's important to get your views on the record.

For example, the state's 2060 Transportation Plan lacks specifics for bicycle strategies. That was a disappointment to Jeff Holhstein of the Florida Bicycle Association First Coast Chapter and Mark Loeb of the Urban Land Institute. The state Department of Transportation responded to their comments last October by saying that bicycle trip strategies are seen as goal areas in the plan's sections on community livability, environmental stewardship, safety, security and connectivity. But what Holhstein and Loeb found were only only four references in the plan of which three were definitions. The state DOT also said that it welcomes suggestions on how to make bicycle strategies part of 2060's plan implementation, another opportunity for your input. Take that as your cue.

For now, help fill St. Augustine's need for a bicycle trail plan for the future. It's time to be a problem solver; St. Augustine's bicycle friendliness is at stake.