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St. Charles County, the Morning After
St. Charles, Mo. County Council decided to table the proposed bike ban after the bill’s initial reading last night. Thanks to all county residents and advocates who spoke out against the proposed ban!
The fight is not over! The County Council will pick the issue back up at next month’s meeting, with the potential to add more highways to the proposed ban. The League will continue to work with our colleagues at Missouri DOT, Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation, St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation and our local members and other cyclists.
If you live in St. Charles County it’s not too late to speak up! Tell your Council members to vote against this bill in our Advocacy Center.
Jeff Peel
State and Local Advocacy Coordinator
Peel joined the League in March 2008 as a Program Specialist for the Bicycle Friendly Communities program. Peel has a BA in American Studies from the University of Southern Mississippi.
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July 13th, 2010 at 11:56 am
Watch for more info http://bit.ly/bBQuFC
July 13th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Good TV clip here.
http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-st-charles-bike-ban-071210,0,4986396.story
July 13th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
From the Fox TV segment, it appears that the argument given is these are shoulderless roads and cannot be shared safely. That gives me the shudders, as such an argument could apply to many of the roads in Northern New Mexico or for that matter, expanded to suggest that roads without specialized bicycling accomodations (bike lanes, paths, or wide shoulders) shall not be ridden on. And given the economic situation we are in, we could be in for a long wait before they are built.
Such scare tactics have to be refuted.
July 13th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
khal’s fear are real. The Council has no interest in lowering speed limits and it will take years at best before shoulders can be funded… and then it may be difficult to reestablish cycling rights. St Charles is a chartered county and thus may be able to control users’ rights no matter what MoDOT policies suggests.
The attitude that “bikes belong on trails only” is a slippery slope but is a very common attitude in Missouri. What’s not being shown in the Show Me state is how the area has been taken over by irresponsible drivers who spend too much time at the numerous local wineries-bars and drive home at speeds that greatly exceed the 55 mph limit.
July 14th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Share the road.