NOACA Draft Regional Bicycle Plan

The following comments for the Draft Regional Bicycle Transportation Plan were received through the public involvement outreach and activities process:

Cleveland Bike's comments are available as a PDF file.

Corky Johnson's comments are available as a PDF file.

David Owen's comments are available as a PDF file.

Anthony Ratajczak's comments are available as a PDF file.

Richard Kratche
I applaud your efforts to increase safe bicycling throughout Northeast Ohio. I am a cyclist and have commuted by bike from my home in South Russell to my office in Solon for the past 15 years. I've been hit by a car just once (that's enough!).

I've been pleased to see Bike lanes popping up all over Solon recently. I should also mention that I'm a Family Physician and as such, constantly struggle to get my patients to exercise. I've long envisioned a grid of bikeways that would encourage people to use their bikes for transportation rather than their cars, when within reason. This could be a tremendous help in our local battle against the epidemics of Obesity & Diabetes. It's also good for the environment & in a small way lessens our consumption of gasoline.

Keep up the good work!

John McGovern
The plan, as stated, does not appear to set priorities for areas where land-use (i.e. density and mixed-use) may engender greater acceptance, thereby leading to greater use of the bicycle as an alternative to the car. For example, it should be a priority to create bicycle infrastructure in areas such as Cleveland Heights, Lakewood, and most of Cleveland, where density levels are high and land-use is mixed to include housing, entertainment, office, retail, etc. all within close proximity. If better cycling (and pedestrian) infrastructure (lanes/routes/racks) were a priority in these areas, then people would have a readily available option to using their car for shorter trips.

Compare the aforementioned scenario to creating bicycling infrastructure in rural or exurban areas where density is typically low and land-use is separated. When cycling infrastructure is introduced here, it does not offer a convenient alternative to the car as housing, entertainment, office, & retail are all spread far apart. Therefore, use of the facilities will be lower.

I'm not saying that rural and exurban projects should not be considered, but there needs to be a priority for projects in areas where land-use would engender their success. Over time, this sort of priority would enable inner-city and inner-ring suburbs to regain some of their competitive advantage, which has largely been lost in the post streetcar era.

In regards to the draft of the regional bicycle plan, I believe the plan is absent the capacity to educate regional decision makers (administrators, mayors, managers, council people, etc.) on the merits of transportation cycling.

It should be stated that there is a critical difference between planning for recreational cycling versus planning for transportation cycling. Thus far in northeast Ohio, we have spent far more resources planning and implementing infrastructure for recreational cycling. However transportation cycling enables synergies with walking & mass transit, thereby enabling a viable alternative to the private automobile which leads to a significant reduction in personal spending for transportation.

An often used method for educating decision makers on the merits of transportation cycling is to take them to a city where transportation cycling is facilitated, say Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, or Portland.

There they can experience first-hand a simulated bicycle commute in a place where policy, laws, and infrastructure enable bicycling as an alternative form of transportation. A simulated bicycle commute in Chicago, which has a climate similar to Cleveland's, could be coordinated at a relatively low cost as the MegaBus service enables a roundtrip for around $20 per passenger. On the ground bicycling details could be coordinated through the Chicago Bicycle Federation.

Perhaps an element of the NOACA Regional Bicycle Plan could be for NOACA to work with the Earth Day Coalition (my employer) and the Cuyahoga County Mayors and Managers Association to facilitate and finance such a trip for our regional decision makers.

Thank you for your time.

Kathryn Weise
I have reviewed the Draft Regional Bicycle Plan, and hope that bicycle lanes along Euclid Avenue between University Circle and downtown will become a reality. As a Cleveland Heights resident and employee of the Cleveland Clinic, I occasionally brave the traffic and construction to ride to work, but always feel at risk. Currently, the safest route from the Coventry area to the hospital includes sidewalks on the Case campus, turning onto Chester to avoid the bicycle-threatening construction craters along Euclid, then dodging traffic that is turning onto MLK. Being able to ride in a bike lane down Euclid once construction is done would make the trip much safer for both cyclists and cars.

There is an active group of CCF employees who try to ride to work, and I believe that others would ride more often if there were a safer way to navigate the area on a bike.

Thank you for your efforts,

Kevin Cronin
Despite progress, by any measure, we are far from fully realizing the 1997 goals. Cycling is an important transportation and health policy issue and public officials should be encouraging cycling whenever possible. As a cycling commuter, with some planning perspective, the primary problems I see is public education and the need to inform motorists of a cyclists right to the road under Ohio Revised Code. A broad public campaigns, with PSAs, wide deployment of "Share the Road" signs and employer outreach to increase the level of cycling, are important tools. Increasing motorist awareness, increases rider safety, which encourages riders to achieve the desired public goals. Cycling support is a cost effective transportation investment for the region.

Let me proceed through the five goals in the original planning documents:

1) Bikeways: A strong regional network of safe bikeways is within our grasp now -- it's a well-maintained, safe roadway system, free of glass and debris, in which motorists expect to share the road with cyclists. Every road is a bikeway. Multi-purpose paths, segregated from the roadway, are important and will be appreciated, but they are recreational riding paths for families and youth, to be shared with dog-walkers, strollers and pedestrians. These are nice amenities, if done safely, but bicycle speed should be limited for safety and it will not be an alternative to cycling in the road for basic transportation.

2) Local Planning: Increasing cycling planning isn't helpful, unless it reflects an aware of best practices and nationwide plans. Local planning, without the input of cyclists or which ignores positive activities around the country, risks creating more safety risks. Solely measuring increased miles of bike lanes is not the proper measure of success, if cyclists aren't encouraged to use them or cyclists don't find them helpful to get where they want to go. Successful maintenance needs to be considered right from the start - avoiding grates and cracks and fixing potholes quickly to maintain a road that is safe and secure for cyclists.

3). Increase bicycle ridership in the region, in particular, for transportation: Educating motorists, promoting safe riding and creating parking options, like the proposed bicycle station for downtown Cleveland and the gateway neighborhood, will increase the number of riders.

4). Promote safer bicycling in the region and reduce accidents: Again, this is a result of motorist education and parking options like a bicycle station described earlier. Supporting cyclists, at even a fraction of the way the public offsets costs for individual motorists, will increase riders and riding safety. PSAs would be very helpful, as would more "share the road" signs. The more cyclists on the road, the safer the road is for cyclists. That's the conclusion from data world-wide.

5). Encourage involvement of the private sector and other support for bicycling for transportation and recreation: Employers can help by supporting cyclists and cycling parking facilities. Are showers available? Is there a benefit for cyclists equivalent to employer-provided parking fringe benefits? Employers should as it would reduce their insurance costs. Increasing employer support for cycling would be very helpful, including private support for cycling events and activities (like summer rides, Bike to Work commutes or the bicycle station project), support for safe riding for kids going to schools and more bicycle parking provided by malls, schools, libraries and shopping centers.

Additionally, I'd make the following points:

1) Making the roads safe for cycling doesn't have to wait for a city plan to repave or widen a road. Signs and sharrows can be added at anytime and maintenance, to keep roads clear of glass and debris, should be a regular activity.

2) More data and road counts of cyclists can assist planning and should be done. I would add that a low level of current cyclists in a bike count, does not mean cyclists won't use a road, given adequate support, signage and motorist education. To quote from the movie Field of Dreams, "build it and they will come. "

3) The draft study includes a comparison of cycling accidents from different years showing stable levels of cycling accidents. Such a chart doesn't indicate that cycling safety is at a good level and can't improve. If riding increases, but accidents don't, the roads are getting safer and cyclists and perhaps motorists, are better educated over time. However, still more progress can be achieved.

4) I am very skeptical of regulatory language supporting cycling from state, federal or local transportation agencies. Even assuming the best of intentions, engineers have excessive latitude to waive obligations and legal requirements to provide cycling support in infrastructure projects.

5) Good benchmarks for cycling are not just more cyclists on commuter routes or higher attendance on "Bike to Work" days and at bicycle stations. among the goals are reductions in short-trip motor vehicle driving or single occupancy vehicle commuting.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts.

Lois Moss
I am thrilled that this draft report has been written! I found it very helpful, particularly the maps of existing and proposed bicycle-related projects.

As you know, bicycles are transportation and can help:
- reduce traffic congestion on our roadways since a bicycle takes up a small fraction of the space that a car does
- reduce wear and tear on our roadways
- reduce smog and pollution, thus increasing our air quality
- increase the health of our population by offering a low impact physical activity
- reduce obesity levels and the myriad of health problems that result from excess weight
- save people money since their fuel costs will be lower
- for people who do not own a car, they are able to get to jobs that they might not be able to get to otherwise. This is especially true when a bicycle and the RTA system are combined.

A few specific thoughts that I would like to mention:

- Is there a possibility of creating a bike lane or bike path on the Cedar Road hill between Cleveland / Cleveland Heights? This roadway is one of the only connectors between Cleveland Heights and the University Circle area. Currently, the hill is difficult for many experienced cyclists and impossible for most average cyclists, causing people who might want to commute by bicycle to not even try it. It appears that there is adequate grassy area along the edge of the road to install a bike lane or bike path. I think RTA is going to be building a new station in the area? Possibly the bike lane / bike path on the Cedar Road hill could be a part of the RTA project.

- I saw that a few people commented that there needs to be more education of bicyclists and of motorists. I agree. I also think it should be termed “awareness and education” because some people are not aware that a bicycle has the same rights and responsibilities as a motorized vehicle. Motorists need to be educated that bicycles are allowed on the road and be more aware that bicycles are on the roadways. Cyclists need to be educated that they must follow the rules of the road and be more aware of how their breaking the rules frustrates motorists and causes tension between the two groups.

- The best and most effective way to educate people is to make it fun. Printing brochures and booklets is a noble endeavor, but does not necessarily mean that people will read them. Holding classes is also noble, although with peoples’ busy schedules it may not be practical. Some ways to make the awareness and education fun are mentioned in Goal 5. These include obtaining corporate sponsorship for bicycle promotion events, encouraging participation by large employers (particularly hospitals), organizing Safe Routes to Schools programs and encouraging workplace facilities. When allocating resources for awareness and education, I suggest that more resources (time, effort and funding) be put toward producing and marketing the items listed in Goal 5. Marketing bicycle events serves a dual purpose – people know about the event plus people become more aware of and are reminded of bicycles. NOACA was a sponsor of the 2007 Walk+Roll events which, unfortunately, were plagued by horrible weather. For 2008, we are planning one Walk+Roll Sunday in Rockefeller Park plus an additional bicycle event that will cover a larger area. We are also open to producing a car-free day for other municipalities in the NOACA region and would love to get the word out that we are available to assist a community. We would like to work with NOACA to make these events a catalyst for communicating that bicycles are transportation, to teach bicycle safety, promote awareness and education for motorists and cyclists.

Once again, I am thrilled that the report has been written, the issue is on the radar screen and progress has been made. In general, the public favors adding bike paths, bike lanes and bike routes. Bicycles are the answer to many of our communities’ problems. Let’s keep moving forward.

Jacqueline Stanton
Hello ... Thanks for offering more bike routes... If ever there is possibility of a route along Pearl Road connecting the Metroparks ... valley parkway to downtown ... that would be awesome :)

Carl Frey
Generally speaking I think the plan should reduce the emphasis on or eliminate all of the maps. I am a little confused by the Bicycle Facility Priority Plan…by including some gray streets (presumably for reference) which are not identified as priority streets the implication is that bikes should NOT be accommodated on these streets.

As a stated goal is to increase bike use as a transportation mode, bicycle use on all streets (except limited access highways, as permitted by state law) should be encouraged…more of a complete streets approach. I believe a strategy that emphasizes street section and engineering details for roadway improvements that accommodate bicyclists as well as motorists has the best chance to succeed, will support all five of the NOACA Regional Bicycle Transportation Plan goals, and will be the most acceptable to the public. This might include wider lane width criteria, straight curbs rather than curb and gutter sections, appropriate gutter inlet design, traffic signal activation by bikes, shared roadway signage, and other design details. The inclusion of these standards and criteria in ODOT, county engineering, and local roadway design requirements will do far more to provide meaningful bicycle facilities than the publication of any map or plan. Project funding for dedicated bike lanes or bike paths will likely continue to remain a small fraction of general roadway construction dollars, so emphasizing bicycle planning as unique and separate from transportation planning distracts from the stated goals.

As a recent example of absent criteria, the newly constructed Basset Road in Bay Village included beautiful curb and gutter sections, which are not a benefit to the bicycling community and will in fact continue to enhance the misconception of motorists that bicyclists ignore traffic rules and general courtesy by “riding in the middle of the road” when they avoid biking within the gutter. Perhaps this is also why this stretch of road was omitted as a priority route on NOACA’s map, however it seems that a priority plan that misses bicycle access and linkage to regional centers (such as Crocker Park) will ultimately fail in its goals. While implementing better bicycle access across freeway interchanges may be difficult, avoiding these challenges to critical links does little to promote the stated goals. Similarly within Bay Village, excluding Wolf Road as a priority - a route which links nearly every park, school, and commercial district and which may better accommodate local bicycle travel than the State Route Lake Road - seems to miss the point. I am sure other examples throughout the NOACA region exist.

In addition to an emphasis on complete streets, a secondary aspect of bicycle facility planning which seems completely absent from the Plan is any mention of what one is to do with his or her bike once they arrive. Safe, secure, meaningful bicycle parking and storage is necessary for bicycles to be a viable transportation mode. This should include not only racks for short term parking, but also bike lockers or indoor storage for transit users, students, employees of office and commercial areas, and residents of multi-family housing. While NOACA’s mission may not directly relate to local zoning ordinances or design guidelines, creation of model legislation and/or design criteria specific to our region that require or encourage better bicycle parking and storage facilities would be a benefit to members and within the overall organizational goals. NOACA’s Bicycle Transportation Plan should provide leadership and guidance to other public and private planning efforts regarding all components of bicycle transportation.

John R. Metter, Sr.
To Whom It May Concern:

Concerning your plans for the bicycling future,here are my comments: We dont; need any, let alone any more, bicycle paths. If people want to ride their bikes, they can use the sidewalks, park paths, back yards etc. This is not something that tax dollars should be paying for. Spend that $51 million dollars on maintaining our roads and bridges - that is important.

Angie Ridgel
As a resident of Lakewood and an employee of Cleveland Clinic, I ride my bike to work twice a week this summer. I generally followed the Cleveland Lakefront Bikeway. Usually, my commute was pleasant (with the exception of downtown traffic) but the roads along the bikeway are horrible. I always ride my mountain bike because the roadways were too bad for a road bike.

Although I would like to commute to work everyday (even when it gets dark early), I hesitate because of the quality of the roadways, lack of bike awareness among motorists and lighting along the route. I strongly support the design of shared use paths from the western and eastern suburbs to downtown Cleveland. If these paths were lighted and maintained, I would bike commute everyday to work and know many fellow cyclists who would do the same. Even bike lanes on the road are ignored by motorists; they are not sufficient to protect cyclists. I have many friends who have been hit by cars and I have freuently been harassed when I ride on the road. We need to make bicyclist more safe by supporting a region wide effort to promote cycling and reduce car-bicycle incidents.

Ronald P. Tomallo, Jr., P.E.
As a bicycle COMMUTOR and FITNESS oriented bicyclist, I log approximately 2000 to 3000 miles per year. I have been logging this mileage for the past 7 years. I offer the following comments on your draft plan based on my bicycling experience;

1) MULTIPURPOSE PATHS (see pg1 of the 7/07 Draft) ARE NOT USEFUL FOR BICYLE COMMUNTING. This is especially true from approximately 3 PM to sunset as there are too many slow moving pedestrians. When a person is commuting, they are in the PROCESS OF GETTING TO ANOTHER PLACE. Many bicyclist commuters can be observed riding on the street, even when a “Multipurpose Path” parallels that roadway.

A special concern to bicycle commuters on Multipurpose Paths is persons WALKING DOGS (especially on leashes), as the leashes often block the pathway. IF Multipurpose Paths are to be considered as viable bicycle commuting, PET WALKING (on or off leash) should be PROSCRIBED.

2) SHARED ROADWAYS are the best option. However, the SHOULDER SHOULD BE WIDE ENOUGH to accommodate a bicycle, but ONLY 1 TO 1.5 FEET are necessary. The 4 FOOT recommendation listed in TABLE G (pg 29) and the 5 Foot Florida DOT (Appendix H) are NOT NECESSARY and is a waste of dollars and resources when BICYCLE COMMUTING is being considered. In fact, Footnote 9 acknowledges that the 4 foot recommendation is based on OTHER FACTORS.

In addition, the extra WIDE SHOULDER tends to ENCOURAGE motorists to use it AS A TURNING LANE. I know of one instance where misguided local officials CONVERTED the WIDE SHOULDER to an “official” TURN LANE when lines were repainted (Richfield Township at Rt.21 and Ira Rd.).

3) Where SHARED ROADWAYS or BIKE LANES are constructed, PROVISIONS should be made TO KEEP THEM CLEAN. The extra wide BIKE LANES tend to become a DEPOSITORY for road TRASH, including broken glass, rocks, and rusted parts that fall of cars, along with trash from adjacent homes – leaves, garbage cans, gravel spun from driveways. A simple bushing a few times a year would help greatly.

4) Your BEST STRATIGIES are those listed as “GOAL 4: PROMOTE SAFER BICYCING IN THE REGION AND REDUCE ACCIDENTS.” The most effective means will be to educate the general public of bicyclists’ right to the road and proper road-sharing techniques. I personally have been verbally assaulted by motorist, yelling “GET OFF THE ROAD,” many times.

Chris Jacobs
An admirable plan. I agree with the sentiment in the previous comments, and would add my support for continued development of the plan.

Education of drivers and cyclists would be high on my list of priorities, and this is something that probably should be coordinated with the State and ODOT and the drivers' licensing bureau. I see too many drivers crowd cyclists on the side of road, and too many cyclists run stop signs, stop lights, and pass cars on the right. Cyclists clearly are at a disadvantage vs. cars, but both must share the road and respect a common set of rules.

As far as routes, I would say that my first priority would be improved access from Cleveland Heights down the hill into Cleveland. I think the goal should be to provide bike access suitable for elderly commuters and school children. Neither MLK nor Cedar Hill meet that goal and I think it is a barrier that prevents more people from commuting by bike or otherwise biking from the Heights into Cleveland.

Progress certainly has been made, thank you for continuing to work to provide a better bike network.

Peggy Rose
Save your money; don’t use it for bike trails. We have a beautiful bike trail in the Metroparks and all the bikers ride on the streets anyway. They are a nuisance to the drivers. The bikeway is not being used; the road is used. Don’t use funding for something like that.

James Systek
More trails-no! Not until the following things are achieved:
- Bikers must be schooled in the rules of the trails so not to abuse the rights of others.
- Bikers are not licensed – when I was a kid, I paid 25¢ today, they should pay at least $5 to pay for maintenance and associated costs of the trails.
Kelly Kimball
I’m trying to get on all-purpose trail in South Russell Village and would welcome assistance. The village has been working at this since 1973 and it would be awesome if we could get this accomplished.

George Klaus
I would like to see the bike trail that ends at Ridge Road extended through to State and Broadview Roads, into Brecksville. This would really be asset because you’d be connecting with Riverview Road as you go down through the Brecksville Trail. That would complete a full circle. I know a lot of people that won’t ride on State Road and they have to put their bikes in the car and drive to SR-82. It would be an asset to complete this bike trail and I hope you consider it.

Thank you.
Nadia Voljin
I’ve biked in Cleveland from 1987 until now. In July I was attached which resulted in an elbow fracture. I was lucky that I wasn’t murdered or raped. I’m not biking anymore. Unless your put those people (attackers) in prison for life you may save yourself the $51 million dollars because no one is going to use the bike trails unless there is safety.

Deidre Strang
I certainly hope there will be a lot more bike paths so that we can move to a cleaner, healthier way for transportation in the city. I’m very much in favor of increasing the number of bike paths as much as possible.

Nancy Croft
As someone who has bike in Europe, Holland, France, Italy, Austria and Germany, for the past ten summers. Through this experience I know that a bike path CAN work and that bikes are a great transportation alternative. To do this correctly your plan has to be multifacited and I suggest that you visit Holland to see, what is in my estimation, the most bike friendly country I have visited.

Where to start.

I would suggest in areas that are reasonably flat, no one wants to go to work exhausted. Work places should have facilities available for people to change their clothes and should give the employees who do bike to work either a cash incentive (as they might for taking an exercise class during lunch) or another type of incentive to have their employees bike. Healthier workers make for better workers who take fewer sick days.

Providing bike trails isn't enough. Stores, places of business etc. will have to get on the bandwagon too and provide bicycle parking. One of the things that you could look into and to tempt people to bike rather than drive is to provide secure FREE bike parking. It's difficult to bike to meeting etc. as few places provide an area to park and lock your bike.

Safety:

Everyone, including drivers, would need to be educated about biking and biking etiquette.

Rules for driving past bikers would have to be included in the driving test--many drivers don't think that bikers belong on the roadways. People often times drive up right behind you and then lay on the horn, warning you that they are present--as if you're deaf and didn't hear them coming. Bikers would also have to know the rules of the road, how to indicate a turn, riding in single file, indicating with a single ring of a bell that you would like to pass etc.

If you would like women to bike to work, helmet laws, which many cities have would have to be abolished. No woman wants to spend the day at work with helmet head. There are NO helmet laws in Europe and I would be interested to see the research concerning how many head injuries actually occur due to no helmets.

Many cities in France are now providing bikes to rent for in-city use. That's another idea to promote cycling.

Perhaps the NOACA could help with the cost of bikes. In Holland few, if any, of the bikes have gears as the land is so flat. Americans, for whatever reason, think that if they're going to bike that the need the best bike, with the most speeds etc. If bikes could be made available, through a grant perhaps, so that lower income people could purchase them that might help too. Bike maintenance classes could be offered through recreation departments.

There are endless possibilities, however, I beleive that the bike paths and a safe place to put your bike when you are at work, the store, a meeting, etc. are the two places to start.

I wish you the best of luck with your endeavors.
Lawrence Anson
Thank you for all the work put into the plan. I realize the limiting factor in expanding routes is the availability of funding. Ideally all roads being redone should be widened to allow for at least a bike lane. Here in Solon, Pettibone Road east of SOM, was redone with no addition of lanes. It was discussed but my understanding was that public input was requested and many residents did not want bike lanes added. (Fear of losing part of their front yards?, Fear of strangers riding by their homes?, Ignorance? "Not in my backyard" mentality.) Now the opportunity has been lost, at least for the time being.

Here in Solon certain roads have been designated as preferred bike routes, but just placing signs doesn't make it a good (safe) route. Many drivers are unaware of cyclists on the routes and riding on them is certainly for experienced riders only, who are constantly aware of vehicular traffic approaching them. Too many drivers are inattentive, talking on the cell phone, etc.. More driver education should done.

I also feel that more work should be done to provide interconnecting routes to the wonderful bike paths that we have now.

What about more rails to trails? Corporate sponsorship possiblities to provide some funding?
Tom
Thoughts for consideration:

1) ALL bicycles purchased should be tax exempt. I wish there was also a way to give EXTRA consideration to bicycles made in the U.S.A. Are there any?
2) A law should be passed in the State of Ohio that for every mile of NEW road/highway constructed an equivalent distance of bicycle pathway should be constructed.
3) A similar law that for every mile of road/highway RESURFACED 1/2 mile of bike path should be constructed.
4) Encourage Ohio high schools to have bicycle clubs and state wide FRIENDLY competition. No exotic bicycles or components. Maybe even a standardized bike for each type of event established.

"Keep on Bikin' "
Donna Polack
Please continue bike trails and transportation of bikes. We need a more bike friendly public. We waste gas moving our bikes to the trails because it is so dangerous to ride in our neighborhoods. Keep up the good work!
Dusty
On Wednesday Oct 24 there was a short story on page B 3 of the Plain Dealer, about your future plans for bike trails. First, the trails have to go somewhere. A five mile trail that only goes from one parking lot to another is not good. The trail needs to connect to another. When a portion of a trail is open but not yet finished, signs need to be posted so you can get to the next completed part or another near by trail. Also the 5 mile section of trail in the Brecksville Metro Park along Valley Parkway needs to be finished. This would allow a rider to go from the Towpath west to The Rocky River Reservation or Big Creek Parkway. Also the Summit County Hike and Bike Trail joins The Metro Parks All Purpose Trail In Bedford Reservation. This is good. However, the trail just dead ends in the South Chagrin Reservation. It needs to continue. The All Purpose Trail crosses the abandoned NS Railroad tracks near Harper Road. Or the trail could be extended north along Chagrin River Road to the trail in North Chagrin Reservation.
Ken Brichacek
I have thoroughly enjoyed the ability to ride my bike on designated bikeways versus sharing the roads with automobiles. It is a much safer and makes riding more enjoyable. I mainly ride in Lake County, but have occassionally enjoyed the paths in Geauga and Cuyahoga Counties. However, I do have some recommendations:

1) In urban areas, keeping the paths free of glass, gravel, potholes, and other hazards would encourage more people to cycle, maybe a monthly maintenance program,

2) Marking roadways that intersect the paths would be helpful to identify your location if a problem were to occur,

3) Increase paths along shopping districts so people would be encouraged to cycle to perform light shopping errands. Present condition of most sidewalks make it hazardous for both pedestrians and cyclists, also, poorly maintained sidewalks can damage one's bike.

Thank-You for giving me the opportunity to voice my opinion. I appreciate the effort you are making to make northeast Ohio a more "bike-friendly" area.
Jean Keller
If bikes could have their own lane, that would be wonderful, not to mention the safety for all.

Alyssa Webb
Thank you for providing a channel for public comment as it relates to the Regional Bicycle Transportation Plan. Before commenting on the entire Draft, I'd like to submit several comments regarding general bicycle planning and my safety observations. I've ridden around the greater Cleveland area, and recently had the opportunity to do the same in Chicago. While in Chicago, I traveled extensively on roads with bike lanes, and despite *nearly* being hit twice, it was generally positive experience. I had a very helpful map distributed by Chicago Department of Transportation, available for free at chicagobikes.org.

1. Un-crowded, well-maintained, well lit, 24 hour access, multi-use paths seem to be the safest for casual and inexperienced bike riders. The biggest hazards to a cyclist on these paths are unavoidable intersections (roads or driveways) and obstacles (children/adults, pets, branches, glass) with no means of avoiding the obstacle. This dangerous "no exit" is created when there is a fence, hill, ditch, river, curb, wall, crowd, trash, glass, branch, leaves, etc. For this reason, many faster or experienced riders prefer not to ride on multi-use paths.

2. Bike lanes can be beneficial if well planned and executed. However, bikes are vehicles and should follow the same rules on the road, and having separate bike lanes can be very confusing for motorists. Creating separate bike lanes, while allowing some physical space on the roadway for the cyclist, may contribute to accidents when created on a road that does not have a large amount of cycling traffic.

Dan Polito
I have quickly reviewed the plan, and more carefully looked at sections pertaining to Cuyahoga County.

I strongly support creating a "bike center" downtown in the East "X" st and Prospect neighborhood. In addition, please consider in your plans to have the center be easy-access from different routes around the city. A bike/pedestrian center like London's recent area is fantastic for improving quality of life, but only if cyclists and pedestrians can easily get there, preferrably on multi-use paths or in designated bike-lanes.

Secondly, please consider addressing the bike lane structure currently in place when heading eastbound on Detroit over the Detroit-Superior bridge. I commute on the bridge daily, and the eastward crossing of the bridge is a very dangerous one. The bike lane starts, as you're well aware, on the descent of the bridge, and it sort of just "magically" appears from the sidewalk. In order to access the lane safely, without having to change lanes to get to it, a cyclist has to ride in the cramped quarters between the bridge trusses and the raised sidewalk on the south side. When coupled with rush-hour traffic, RTA buses, and large trucks heading down to the flats (which all always take that southern-most lane). A simple solution would be to have a marked bike lane across the entire bridge, and running INSIDE the truss, similar to the way cyclists cross the bridge going westbound. The lane could then continue, uninterrupted, until Superior (and hopefully even further!). This, in my mind as well as countless other commuters I have spoken with, is the most potentially dangerous bicycle/vehicle interaction within Cleveland proper.

One factor of success for the "revitalization" of downtown, and of Cleveland as a whole, will be the inclusion of bike lanes, and a general increase in bicycle/commuter information for the public.

Bike improvements are important in every city, and in every county, but please do as much as possible to create and support a solid bicycle transportation system in the city of Cleveland itself.

Look what it did for Minneapolis!
Carol David
I read the article in the P.D. and I agree that we need more bike paths. We also need high speed rail instead of more highways. We need more alternative methods of transportation.
Dr. William Beasley
I find the Towpath Trail to be a wonderful place for long bicycle rides.

I live in Lorain County (Avon Lake) and am acutely aware that there is currently no good way to bicycle from the Lorain/Cuyahoga County border at Bay Village on into the city, where one might connect up with other bicycle routes.

I'm pleased to see that long-range plans appear to address this, albeit not with a specific indicated planned trail or lane.

The same goes true for a path or lane which would allow one to connect from the shore of Lake Erie on down into central Lorain County to enjoy the Elyria-Kipton bike trail (which is already a very nice ride).
Steve McQuillin
As a bicyclist who rides in the region, primarily for exercise and recreation, I have some comments about a proposed bike plan:
1. Separate bike paths are much preferred to bike lanes on regular streets.
2. It would be great to have a regional network of bike trails, such as connecting west to the Elyria-Kipton North Coast Inland Trail and extending that to Clyde and then to Toledo. The towpath trail could provide links to the south and there could be links to the east and southeast as well.
3. Our urban bike trails are not very attractive and efficient. The new stretch by Steelyard shopping plaza is such an example. Paris, France has a wonderful and expertly landscaped and maintained bike trail on an old railroad line.
4. The Ohio-Erie Canal towpath trail has confusing signs and incomplete sections, particularly south of Akron and, of course, north of Harvard Road.
5. The rationale for closing the beautiful stretch of Big Creek Parkway bike trail by Stumph Road and making it pedestrian-only seems flawed. One accident many years ago closed this trail and that should be reexamined. Also, the trail could go under Stumph Road, which is a dangerous intersection.
6. Landscaped and separate bike lanes could be created in downtown Cleveland. For example, Superior Avenue is unusually wide. It might have a landscaped median with trees and grass and bike and walking areas in the middle.
7. Whatever happened to the concept of creating a single park at Public Square? This was discussed several years ago and promoted by Park Works, but nothing has happened. It seems obvious that a large park-like space here could become a haven for bicyclists and pedestrians.
8. The suburbs need more biking opportunities. For example, I live in Westlake and always bike on streets but do walk around the area. Many bicyclists use the sidewalks, which is hazardous for pedestrians and apparently increases the risk of car-bike collisions in drives and at intersections. There need to be more opportunities for a system of trails and lanes that take people to destinations. For example, nearby Crocker Park was supposed to have some kind of trail system, but nothing has been developed.
9. Some suburbs do a terrible job of maintaining side roads and this is especially annoying and hazardous for bicyclists. I am thinking of North Ridgeville, as I prefer to use Chestnut Ridge Rd. and other side roads, but they have so many patches and potholes that it is dangerous. Avon has deep ditches close by many of their roads and Detroit Rd. should have a broader paved berm.
10. The Ohio Turnpike might have some involvement in this issue. In New York and other states, toll funds go to assist on such issues, yet in Ohio, the Turnpike actually creates hazardous bicycling situations with its tunnel-like unlighted overpasses that conceal dangerous potholes and cracked pavement. This happens throughout the region. Ideally, the Turnpike could study how its property might help with an overall bicycle plan, with special lanes on bridges and even some bike trails that either parallel sections of the Turnpike or have interesting bridges (like those at Granger Rd.) to facilitate bicycle movement.
  
  Thank you very much for considering these suggestions.
David Jordan
I was excited when I found out there was a bicycle lane along Lakeshore Blvd. in Eastlake. Then I tried it, and what a disaster. It is totally unsafe. I do not have time to read all your plans, but I hope you can do better than this. Motorists have little respect for cyclists, and just marking a line along an existing road is not the way to go. This only seems to aggravate motorists and make it dangerous for cyclists. (Also, such lines need to be carried through intersections.)

I spent five days in intensive care because of a bike accident. I was on a paved bike path that had growth along the edge. When I moved to the edge of the path to make room for bikers from the other direction. I found out the hard way that the growth hid an 8-10" shoulder where the blacktop was built up above the ground. Please take care and be aware that visibility of potential obstructions needs to be present.

I am all for anything that improves the availability of safe bike trails, we certainly need more of them. Thank you for what you are doing, and for listening to the people who will be using what you are doing.

Jack Wallingford
This is the best idea in Cleveland since sliced bread. Too often our current road engineers make roads that are outdated by the tenth year. see Rt. 422 in Geauga and Cuyahoga counties. That road does not feature bike accesibility or anything to encourage alternative methods of transportation. So often the current roads do not even make way for sidewalks or pedestrian traffic. No wonder Americans are so obese, we drive fuel consuming cars everywhere. Please, continue to push for bicycle attached roadways and for sidewalks and alternatives to internal combustion engine transportation.

It would be great if they constructed bike stations, similar to rapid transit stops where cyclists could park and lock bikes under cover and even change clothes so that riding a bike would be a cultural event again, not strange, whacko riding around on a bike, but a citizen concerned about ecology, transportation and being green.

I have three bikes, a town bike, a road bike and a mountain bike that is getting less and less appealing as I get older and older.

Let's create roads with berms for bike riding and alternative transportation.

Eric Schultz
I have noticed that several semi-rural areas have intermittent paved shoulders. These appear to be paved for the Post Office's convience as they are in front of the rural mail boxes. They occur every 200 feet or so. If these were connected, they would make a great bike lane. If the Post Office would get a mandate to pave the entire shoulder, then they may fund the project. It would make traffic flow more efficient by keeping the stop and go mail trucks off the road and separate from other traffic, reduce gasoline usage, help the environment, ... and help bicycle usage.

Matthew Jenkins
I am a long time bicycle rider. I am very interested in your attempts to develop bicycle use as transportation in Northern Ohio. My daughter has recently moved to Portland, Oregon where bicycle commuting is a way of life. They have used this as a way to draw young educated people from all over the country. Use of bicycles has grown at tremendous rate, in fact my daughter like many young people in Portland doesn't own a car. I believe that embracing bicycles is essential for any attempt and repackaging Cleveland to draw the young people we have lost. With this said although I am a strong advocate of bike lanes, we must be aware of some limitations. I have been seeing an alarming amount of reports of bike fatalities in Portland, there have been two in the last few weeks.

One of the deaths was an experienced cyclist and a friend of my daughter. Both riders were following the law in a designated bike lane when they were passed by a large truck which then made a right turn in front of them crushing the rider under the wheels. Both drivers failed to recognize the speed that bicycles are traveling. It is important to examine the use and traffic patterns around bike lanes. Most drivers are unaware or unconcerned that when they make a right turn they may be cutting off oncoming bike traffic. I wish I had an easy solution to this problem, if you read the blogs there are some pretty angry words in the Portland community right now. My wife and daughter both commute to work on bicycles frequently so I am very concerned about safety. I believe a massive driver / biker education program will be important to generate respect and tolerance toward this.