by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
He’s without doubt the most avid cyclist ever elected to public office in Duval County and last week, Dist. 4 City Council member Don Redman called a meeting to plan activities to share his love of two-wheeled travel with the entire community. Representatives from cycling clubs, the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization, the City’s Parks and Recreation Department, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the Landing attended the meeting to plan events and make suggestions about making Jacksonville a more bicycle-friendly city.
“Bike to Work Day 2009” will be held May 15 and Redman said cyclists from all parts of Jacksonville are invited to leave their motor vehicles at home that day.
Suburban locations have been selected for gathering points for cyclists who will then ride as a group into Downtown. Riders will meet at the Food Lion on Arlington Road near the Arlington Expressway. Westside cyclists will assemble at the Publix grocery store on Roosevelt Boulevard at San Juan Avenue and those rolling in from Southside will meet at the Kmart on San Jose Boulevard. The JSO will set up rolling roadblocks on the routes which will join at the Times-Union Center on Water Street. Then the combined groups will ride to Hemming Plaza for a celebration of “Bike to Work Day.”
Stan Sanford, owner of Champion Cycles, said last year Mayor John Peyton became the City’s first chief executive to ride his bike to work on the designated day.
Redman said he thinks more people are riding their bikes to work Downtown now than ever before and hopes the one-day event might lead to more people making a habit of cycling to work at least a few days a week.
A Downtown family bike ride will be added this year to the list of activities for the annual “Get Out There” festival sponsored by the City’s Parks and Recreation Department. It will begin at 9 a.m. March 29 at the Hogan Street Gazebo near the landing. Riders will leave there and bike along the Riverwalk to the new park under the Fuller Warren Bridge, then head back past the Landing and cycle to Berkman Plaza then return to the gazebo for refreshments.
Mercedes Parker from the City’s Parks & Recreation Department said signage will be in place to make pedestrians aware of the cycling event which is expected to attract about 100 riders and last an hour.
“We see the event as a way to promote bicycling Downtown and an opportunity for people to discover a new destination for bicycling. Families could bring their bikes Downtown and ride just like they take them to the beach,” she said.
Miriam Gallet is a member of the North Florida Bicycle Club and chair of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee of the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization (NFTPO). She argued that Jacksonville should take steps to be more bike-friendly and added that several applications for certification as a bicycle-friendly community have been rejected by the League of American Bicyclists. She said one reason is Jacksonville has never officially adopted the league’s “Bicyclist’s Bill of Rights” so Redman pledged to draft a resolution to that effect and introduce it to Council before “Bike to Work Day.”
Gallet also said safety is an issue and the NFTPO is petitioning the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles to include as part of the driver’s license test a section on the laws regarding the responsibilities of bicyclists and motorists.
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