Bicycling is a terrifying activity. At least it is on many of the streets of Huntsville and Madison. You can get killed trying to use your bicycle for a little recreationalfitness, let alone for transportation, because there are very few decent placesto ride.  I would venture to guessthat many of you own bicycles, but use them infrequently due to the difficultyof traveling throughout the city.  Cananything be done about this seemingly unchangeable situation?  Is there a way that people like you and me can feel goodabout riding our bikes in the cities ?  Asgasoline prices continue to soar, the idea of using our bicycles fortransportation becomes more appealing.  Itis not right that we cannot take advantage of this terrific means of exerciseand travel. 

Use of bicycles for transportation often requires travel on extremely busy roads.  Suchmajor roads are better for bike travel in some sense, because they providedirect routes, and have signal priority at intersections. But a road like this moves a great deal of traffic. Often it will have several narrow lanes, and it may not have a shoulder. The lanes are usually too narrow for a bike and a motor vehicle to shareif traffic moves fast or if there is a large amount of truck traffic.

Traffic signals can be a problem if they are not designedwith cyclists in mind.  Many signalsare triggered by buried loop detectors, which are not sensitive to bikes. The cyclists must put themselves in danger by disobeying the light,because it is never going to change. A second  problem that canexist with signals is that some signals do not allow adequate time for cycliststo get across a multilane intersection.  Thelight changes, and the cyclist is left stranded in the middle of theintersection. 

The good news is that our communities can turn this aroundby creating bike routes.   Afew good bike routes will go far toward making an area truly bicycle-friendly. As more people are encouraged to bike, this will improve health andfitness in the community, air pollution will be reduced, and families will savemoney.

A community needs only a few good bike routes to makebicycle travel feasible.  Look atcities that have successfully implemented bike routes, such as Tucson, Arizona. What you find is that not every road has to be a bike route. The presence of one or two North-South routes, and one or two East-Westroutes, could be all that is needed to allow safe bike travel from one area oftown to another.  The importantthing is to choose a good road for the route. It does not need to be a big road, but it does need to be convenient. There is no point in choosing a road that does not go anywhere, or doesnot provide useful access for many travelers. For example, in Huntsville, Holmes Avenue would be an excellent choicefor an East-West bike route through the city. It is already used to travel from downtown all the way to Research ParkWest. 

How are roads converted into "bike routes"? This can be done by widening the outside travel lane, or creating a pavedshoulder to make a bike lane.  Alane needs to be on both sides of the road. Another method is to eliminate on-street parking, if it exists on theroad.  If one lane of on-streetparking is removed, and the road lines repainted, this will provide enough widthfor bike lanes on both sides of the street. 

The second part of the creation of a bike route isproviding the right kind of crossing lights. The best type are directly activated by the cyclists, like a pedestriancrossing light.  But if buried loopdetectors must be used, there are designs available that are bicycle-sensitive.

Critics of bicycle lanes believe that the lanes are merelyan attempt by the community to get cyclists out of the way, rather thanaccepting bicycles as a legal and respectable component of traffic. But the alternative is worse.  Theabsence of bicycle lanes ensure that bicycles have no protected area to ride, sothe numbers of bicyclists will remain low.

If Huntsville and Madison do not provide good bike routesfor cyclists, bicycling will continue to be dangerous, residents will miss thehealth benefits of cycling, and it will be impossible for us to take advantageof this economical means of transportation. However, if these routes are provided, people will use them. Air pollution will decrease with fewer motor vehicles on the road,people's fitness will increase, and people will save on fuel costs.

That bicycle of yours should not live on a rack in yourgarage.  It ought to be utilized forits intended purpose - riding!  Bicyclingdoes not have to be terrifying. 

Let the people who represent you in your city governmentknow that you care about these issues, and that you want the needs of cycliststo be a major consideration in the construction of new roads, and in changes toexisting roads.  Contact a localcycling club, such as the Spring City Cycling Club, to stay informed aboutbicycle issues in your community.   An editorial in the Huntsville Times summed up the issues nicely bystating:

There should be more to a city than multi-lanehighways, subdivisions, and shopping districts.  Huntsville, to its credit, has recognized that. But it needs to do more, and promoting and encouraging bicycling - makingHuntsville bicycle-friendly - is one way to get there.