Bicycle Master Plan

By Chris Gilligan

November 2001

When gas prices hit $5.00 a gallon, how will I afford to get my kids to school and myself to work?

I'm planning for that day. I'm working with other citizens of Hamilton County and North Georgia to build a master plan for bicycling. We are doing this because we love to bike, and we think our neighbors would get out and ride their bikes more often if we had better, safer routes, streets and facilities. This plan is part of a larger plan for all surface transportation — cars, railroads, buses, highways, parking, streets, intersections, enhanced parkways, etc.

We are building a master plan for transportation because, if it's a good one that represents the needs and desires of our community, we can get our fair share of federal and state transportation money. Not just for bikes and bike lanes, but for our roads, highways, buses, trains, trucks, cars and strollers.

If we don't put together a coherent plan, we'll miss out on those federal dollars.

The feds require that we plan for (and implement) alternate transportation systems, in order to get funding for streets and highways. If we don't plan and implement functional alternate systems, they'll hold back money that could be spent on state highways, interstates, intersections, etc.

Spending money on bike lanes and public transportation will not take money away from projects that benefit automobile drivers. In fact, having a rational, citizen-supported, economical plan for getting people to and from work, home, shopping and recreation will get us more funding for all types of transportation facilities.

I'm not suggesting that we need to give up our cars, but I want everyone to realize that cars are not the solution to every transportation need, especially for short trips, under 5 miles: going to visit friends, picking up milk and bread at the corner market or riding around the neighborhood for exercise.

Our region is growing very fast, and the level of pollution is going up, primarily because of increased single-occupant automobile traffic. And the worst pollution occurs when we first start our cars, when there is oil in the cylinders and the emissions systems have not warmed up. So, if you are making five 5-mile trips, you're cranking out ten times the soot of one 25-mile trip.

If you don't think pollution is a problem in our beautiful town, take a look at the haze between downtown and the surrounding ridges. It's a problem. Some of the solutions to air pollution include increased ridership on public transportation, carpooling, driving more efficient vehicles, walking, and riding bikes.

At the very least, we need a safe, marked, rideable bicycle route through the city in all directions. This would allow folks to commute from outlying areas, and give long-range tourists a route through the city. Currently, there are no good routes, and certainly none that are marked. Also, many of the routes that are good for cyclists have certain sections that make them dangerous.

Bikes should not be limited to specific lanes and paths. It's good to have some off road paths and trails for bikes and other non-motorized users, but all road maintenance and construction should consider users other than just autos, especially in a crowded city.

Roads should be maintained for auto and bike traffic with good drainage, reasonably smooth surfaces, predictable transitions to gutters, and storm drains that do not catch skinny tires. For example, the hard edges and humps in the decorative intersections downtown are trouble for cars as well as bikes. Neighborhoods should have smooth sidewalks free from trash, yard debris and overgrown trees and shrubs. Road lanes should have shoulders, or be wide enough for autos to safely pass bikes.

We have one facility that is an approved city project: a bike route that runs from North Chattanooga to St Elmo, what we call the North-South Corridor. It connects the Walnut St Bridge and Riverwalk to the Incline Railway and Lookout Mountain. It would give tourists, commuters, students and recreational riders a safe, quick, fun path through the central city.

Designated bike routes like the corridor are great, but the first priority should be to maintain streets and sidewalks to improve neighborhood property values, and safe travel for all forms of transportation in the region. This should, of course, include bicycles. Before any token bike lanes are built to prove that city planners are politically responsive, there should be a change in all road planning to maintain existing roads better for all vehicles.

Chris Gilligan

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