Mar 29 2008
MEN: Bikes Allowed in Downtown Monroe?
The recent move by Jack’s Bicycle & Fitness to its new Downtown Monroe location has raised an interesting question: Should bikes be allowed on Downtown sidewalks? To me, the answer is obvious: Yes. I used to ride my bike in Downtown Ann Arbor all of the time. It was just a nice way to get around. And downtown areas are particularly suited to effective bike commuting. Here are excerpts and a link to Charles Slat’s Monroe Evening News article:
Councilman Brian Beneteau says he wants to review the law and perhaps create a bike lane and a safety zone for foot travelers so pedalers and pedestrians can co-exist.
City ordinance bans riding bikes, skateboarding or roller-skating on sidewalks in the downtown area, due to safety reasons. Various signs in the downtown area warn of the prohibition. But the law is routinely ignored by many and rarely enforced, although youngsters occasionally have gotten stiff tickets for violating it.
“Because they’re banned right now, it’s not real conducive to families that want to go out and take a ride through the downtown area,” Mr. Beneteau said.
Mr. Beneteau said there’s interest in the idea, partly because of talk of extending city walking paths past the River Raisin Battlefield and out to Sterling State Park.
Scott Goocher of Jack’s Bicycle & Fitness, who recently moved his business to downtown Monroe, said he’d like the idea even if he didn’t own a bike shop. “I understand both scenarios,” he said. “I understand that some people don’t want it because you have got some people riding too close to people coming out of doors and someone might get hit. But with gas at $3.25 a gallon, if you pretty much live within the city limits and work in the city, you should be riding a bicycle.”