Monday's Athens City Council Meeting discussed many issues related to local citizens who own/ride bicycles.
Those Athens residents who take life by two wheels occupied most of the discussions at Monday night’s Athens City Council committees meeting, where Councilwoman Jennifer Cochran, D-at large, brought up several issues pertaining to local bicyclists.
Cochran, who represented the city’s transportation committee, expressed interest in resurrecting the Pedestrian-Bicycle Safety subcommittee, which was most active in 2010 when it was instrumental in drafting the Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety plan. The committee has since fallen by the wayside.
“I just want to help begin the conversation about how we can form this a little bit more,” she said.
The request comes more than three months after the city received an evaluation from The American League of Bicyclists. The city will apply for a designation from the league in February, Cochran said, but before it does, the city is required to have an active group that meets regularly to discuss issues of bike safety.
Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl suggested the committee might be most effective as a subcommittee of the Transportation Advisory committee, which includes both city officials and residents. The advisory committee currently focuses mainly on motorized and public transportation.
Councilwoman Chris Fahl, D-4th Ward, said that before moving forward in making a new subcommittee, councilmembers should stick with the plans that had been put in place when the committee was initially formed.
“We all have to realize that there is a master plan out there,” she said.
Wiehl said that whatever route council chooses, the committee should be able to actually take important steps in improving bike safety.
“Are we trying to check off that bike-friendly city questionnaire or do we want to be something more?” he said.
Cochran also announced that the Columbus Road Bikepath Spur was ready for planning.
Athens City Service-Safety Director Paula Horan-Mosely added that, with this in mind, council should begin thinking about possible uses for the site of a former gas station on Columbus Road, which sits beside the determined route for the Bikepath Spur.
Possible uses for the property range from a parking structure for bicyclists to a station where cyclists can stop and shower after a long bike ride, Horan-Mosely said.
