Great points to consider!

Thanks, Nate!

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Cyclists vote, too

By Nate Hoogeveen
editor@...
www.dmcityview.com

The Iowa Senate Transportation Committee last Thursday approved a bill banning
bicycle riders from four-lane divided highways where there's an adjacent bike
trail or lane. The bill affects only 17 miles of existing highway, but as the
Iowa Department of Transportation plans to extend trails or bike lanes along
most newly constructed state highways, the law's impact will be more pronounced
in the future. The full Senate is likely to consider the bill soon.

Reaction among cyclists is mixed. Some couldn't imagine riding along a four-lane
road, and so don't much care. Others see it as a whittling down of cyclists'
rights to use Iowa roads, rendering bikes recreational toys rather than a valid
means of transportation. Most would pick the trail over a highway any day.

This bill, as amended to make exceptions for events such as RAGBRAI and unsafe
trail conditions, won't ruin bicycling in Iowa. A real concern, though, is that
this bill is not supported by research, which Sen. Steve Warnstadt, D-Sioux
City, pointed out.

"I have no documentation from other states," said one of the bill's sponsors,
John Putney, R-Gladbrook, during committee debate. He'd talked to state
troopers, basing the law in "common sense."

Then again, to uninformed motorists, it seems like common sense that bikers
should keep to the sidewalks. But National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
data shows that instead, far more car-bike crashes occur at sidewalk
intersections than cyclists being hit while overtaken by a vehicle from behind.

There are legitimate reasons for cyclists to ride along four-lane highways.

For example, Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, points out that bicycle racers
training at speeds up to 50 miles per hour belong on roads, not on the trails
with recreation cyclists.

The bill may have stemmed from a single incident. I got an e-mail from cycling
advocate Robert Craddick describing a phone conversation with another of the
bill's sponsors, Sen. John Putney, R-Gladbrook, who was "hopping mad."
Apparently, Putney had slowed down for a group of cyclists on Iowa Highway 330
near Marshalltown, asking why they weren't on the adjacent trail. The cyclists
were described as arrogant, saying they had a right to be there. Putney growled
that he'd see to it they didn't.

Call it road rage, or a classic case of motorists and bikers not sharing the
road. Either way, education is needed for both motorists and bikers.

In committee debate, Putney only referred to the state constructing a 7-mile
bike path along Iowa 330 at a cost of $1,250,000, and he'd only ever seen a
couple of cyclists on the trail itself.

Doug Engstrom, a Johnston cyclist, rode the trail Nov. 15. "The trailhead was
still under construction... . The trail still wasn't really complete as of
then."

And, well, it's winter. This is one of many "trails to nowhere" in Iowa,
stopping well short of the towns of Marshalltown and Melbourne on each end. I'm
not surprised Putney hasn't seen a lot of riders on a new dead-end trail that
doesn't yet appear on maps.

McCoy described the bill as an assault on trails. In 1999, the Iowa Farm Bureau
Federation successfully lobbied to ban government condemnation of farmland for
recreational development. That's hamstrung trail building ever since, to Iowa's
detriment.

Cycling is one of Iowa's top six recreational activities. About 38 percent of
adults ride paved trails, according to a 2000 Iowa Department of Natural
Resources study. Some 21 percent of adults (more than hunters) are the committed
sort of cyclists who frequently or occasionally ride to work, school, or run
errands.

It's a fragmented minority that's never had much solidarity, and even less
political clout. Cyclists believe riding to the Capitol, proudly displaying
their gear before critical votes, is the answer. That wouldn't hurt, but the
parades ultimately don't sway the gray-hairs at the Statehouse. Cyclists need a
wide-based coalition with consistent, cohesive messages, providing timely
information to legislative allies. Cyclists do make a strong, bipartisan
minority. Legislators should be reminded that they vote.
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