Bicycle and pedestrian survey says people find local roads, trails lacking for outdoor activities
Date published: 9/6/2007
By KELLY HANNON
People would ride and stride more often in the Fredericksburg area if there were a better network of paths.
A survey of local cyclists and walkers by the Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization found the majority think area roads are ill-suited for recreational use.
Respondents also would bike or walk more if there were more safety considerations for bikers and walkers on roads, and if a map displaying the region's existing paths and trails were available.
Andy Waple, senior regional planner for FAMPO, organized the trails survey. He's overseeing the creation of a regional bicycle and pedestrian plan.
To be published this winter, the plan will look for ways to connect existing and proposed paths in area counties and the city of Fredericksburg.
Paths between residential and commercial centers will be considered, Waple said, so people can safely travel between home, work and shops without a car. The regional plan will look for more of these opportunities.
Waple is getting help from a committee of area planners and residents interested in cycling and walking.
"What we need to focus on as we plan this network is to get people from Point A to Point B, to get them from where they are to where they need to be," said Scott Howson, chairman of the Sierra Club's Rappahannock Group. The Fredericksburg resident serves on FAMPO's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee.
Waple isn't surprised by the survey results. People are frustrated because paths tend to stop abruptly, Waple said.
Dave Jones, president of the Rappahannock, Fredericksburg & Potomac chapter of BikeWalk Virginia, regularly commutes 20 miles to work on his bike from his King George home to his job at Dahlgren.
Jones shares the respondents' safety concerns. He's had close calls with cars on local roads and takes the long way to and from work for safety reasons.
"Typically people give you a wide berth, at least half a lane, three or four feet, but the rare people seem to be making a point when they whiz by at 55 miles per hour, and the rearview mirror passes inches from our head," Jones said.
Wider traffic lanes, shoulders and sidewalks would improve pedestrian safety on area roads, he said.
The Sierra Club is designing a map of bike and walking paths in the Fredericksburg area for public distribution. Do you have a path in your neighborhood that should be on the map? Contact Scott Howson at wshowson@msn.com or 540/371-8382.
Out of 428 responses to the survey sponsored by the Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, 307 people rated roadways in their neighborhoods to be in "poor" condition for biking and walking.
Looking at the Fredericksburg region as a whole, including off-road paths and trails, 298 people still thought options were poor. The lack of path connectivity seemed to drive this sentiment.
Not everyone has a dim view of area paths and roads. Fifty-seven survey respondents thought local options are "satisfactory," 40 people considered them "good," and a small group, 15 people, rated them "excellent."
In response to the statement, "Check all the reasons you do not bicycle or walk more often," a lack of paths, a lack of connecting paths, and concerns about safety were the most popular responses.
Paying for new paths was a topic of several questions. When asked, "Should public funds be used to improve roadway and non-roadway conditions for bicycling and walking?" 397 people answered "Yes."
But those people preferred the public money come from state and federal grants, not new local taxes. When people were given a chance to check all funding options they supported, 314 favored "developer fees" as a way to pay for paths and pedestrian friendly road upgrades, and 303 people supported using grants.
A smaller group, 256 people, would support using existing local taxes to pay for improvements. Only 130 people supported new local taxes.
Only 72 people said they biked or walked to run errands, and just 47 people biked or walked to work.
Most survey respondents simply live too far away to get anywhere easily on a bike or using their two feet.
The survey was not a scientific sample. About 1,700 surveys were distributed at local libraries, bike shops and community events. Cyclists, walkers and outdoor groups were targeted.
The survey's sample was mostly female (241 responders) and 40 years old and above (264 responders).
Most people surveyed live in Spotsylvania (204 people), Fredericksburg (83 people) and Stafford (68 people).
Bike is motor vehicle when convenient(posted by
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)
I don't see cars going to the head of the line at the intersection like bicyclist do. If your holding up traffic get out of the way. I like riding bikes but I go where I'm meant to be off the roads. Traffic is bad enough without you holding everyone up. I have an idea make bike riders register their bikes and use the revenue to build bike paths or lanes. Motor vehicles can't use the road w/o a valid registration, why should you?
I cannot agree(posted by
biko
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)
enough with the need for more pedestrian, running and cycle paths. I love to cycle from my house is South Stafford to my job in F'burg. One less car on the road, and I stay in shape. However, the trip is unnecessarily hazardous due to lack of paths and ridiculously inattentive cell-phone users. These problems and fears keep me off the roads far more than bad weather.
Bikes are viable forms of transporatation(posted by
Einstein
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)
A such they should have proper infrastructure. Visit any European city and you'll see abundant evidence of this. Safe, proper bike and pedestrian paths should be REQUIRED in any new development.
Sedentary types(posted by
Tamerlane
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)
might want to know that a bicycle is treated as a motor vehicle under Va (and every other law) and thus subject to the same rules of the road. Get out of that car slim! Are you trying to put your cardiologist's kid thru college, or what?
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