Folks,
I listened to the public debate that was on line from last night's St. Charles County Council meeting. If you are not aware, a bill was introduced to ban bicycling on D, DD, F, Z, and south Hwy 94 in St. Charles County until such time as shoulders could be built. While most of us rarely ride those highways any longer due to traffic and road conditions, my ultimate concern is that this ban would spread to other sections of the county. That is exactly what happened last night. While the bill has been tabled, the county representative for the district that covers Hwy B, C, H, and Hwy 94 in St. Charles County has asked that the ban be amended to include his roads as well.
The issues seems to be that the angry farmers are calling that they can't get their tractors around the cyclists in Northern St. Charles County because there are too many of us. It keeps them from harvesting their crops and plowing their fields. The majority of the council was opposed to cyclists stating that we were not courtious, didn't obey laws, and disrupted the flow of traffic creating large traffic jams. Nothing was said about the trucks that try to run cyclists off the road.
The state representatives were also supportive of the ban on cycling. They stated that millions have been spent on bicycle trails and we should only ride on the trails.
The bill was tabled until next month. This gives all cyclists time to let our voices be heard. The county council did say they heard from cyclists but the statements were all about us and not how we could solve the problems or help the community. If this passes, we may all find that all roads are shutdown except the Katy Trail, Madison County trails, and Creve Couer park. While we know of riders who create the problem by not riding single file when traffic approaches and not obeying the traffic laws, I think it is time we let our voices be heard. Please read the following list of contacts and express your opinion.
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| Proposed County Ordinance To Ban Bicycle On Hwy D, Hwy Dd, Hwy Z, Hwy F, Hwy 94 |  |  |  |  |
| Joe Brazil, County Council Member, is introducing a bill on July 12th County Councilmeeting to ban cycling on these roads. The meeting is Monday night at7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at old courthouse in St. Charles. Bill No. 3620 - Prohibit bicycles on Highway DD, D, F, Z & 94 from Hwy. 40 to County line until shoulders or bicycle lanes are in place. July 12th Agenda http://council.sccmo...id=23&Itemid=44 Of course it could take a very long time before such changes are made to these roads. Debbie Dyn Keyes from Shoulders for Saftey are planning on having a group attend in support of this ban. Please contact the council members to urge them not to support this bill. Even if you are not in the district we are all users of these roads. Cheryl Hibbeler District 1 Map chibbeler@sccmo.org Joe Brazil District 2 Map jbrazil@sccmo.org Nancy Matheny District 3 Map nmatheny@sccmo.org Paul Wynn District 4 Map pwynn@sccmo.org Terry Hollander District 5 Map thollander@sccmo.org Jerry Daugherty District 6 Map jdaugherty@sccmo.org John White District 7 Map jwwhite@sccmo.org |
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