ST. CHARLES COUNTY, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com)—
It's a controversy that's splitting households in St. Charles County: a proposal to ban bicycles from dangerous highways. The St. Charles County Council unveiled the bicycle ban for a first reading at Monday night's council meeting. The council tabled the measure after people on both sides of the issue packed the chambers for a lengthy debate. But opponents left the meeting disappointed because the council decided to delay action, in part, to consider expanding the proposed ban to even more highways.The current proposal would prohibit bicycle riding on Highways D, DD, F, Z, along with part of Highway 94.
The area is roughly centered around Defiance in southern St. Charles County, near St. Charles County's wine country and the Katy Trail: a haven for cyclists, with bicycle rental shops and trail access points connecting to those same stretches of highway.
"As long as we share the road kindly and we follow the rules, cyclists should be allowed on the roads," said cyclist Stephanie Boyce of Washington, Missouri, riding the Katy Trail through Defiance Monday night.
"There's no shoulders. There's limited sight distance. The speed limit's 55 mph. It's very dangerous to be riding bicycles on these roads. And you're putting motorists in danger," said council member Joe Brazil, who's sponsoring the ban.
He said he was doing so out of safety concerns. His supporters included the parents of a young woman, then 16, who swerved to avoid a cyclist in 2003 and nearly died after crashing her car into a tree.
"Hilly, curvy, shoulder-less roads with a 55 mph speed limit, is not where cyclists should be," said Stephen East. "Speed differentials between vehicles and bicycles - is just a recipe for disaster."
Resident Susan O'Brien said she was all for the ban as she stopped at a gas station at Highways D and DD.
She said her sons, both grown adults, were bicycle riders. They both opposed the ban.
"They say, 'mom, we have right to the road, too'. I say, 'no, no, stay off the road, it's dangerous. Either you're going to get killed or someone's going to try to avoid hitting you, they're going to get killed, too'."
"They think that we are slowing them down, I guess," Boyce said of ban supporters. "They might have to get behind us and slow down until they can get around us safely. Everybody's in a hurry these days."
Ban opponent Doug Davis of Defiance, told the council it wasn't fair to single out cyclists when the causes of most accidents on these highways do not involve bicycles or bike riders, "Usually the issue is driver impatience, and their urgency to get around us in an unsafe passing area."
He also said this would be the first ban of its kind in the state.
Still, council members tabled the issue, in part, to consider expanding the ban to highways in the northern part of the county.
Brazil said the ban would be lifted as shoulders were added to highways. He said the county would spend $10 million on phase 1 of a shoulder project, which would impact about a 1/3 of the highways now impacted by the proposed ban.
The council will consider the issue again next month.
