Bicycles in Mebane

gistfile1.txt

I have a request to make of the Council and am curious what you'd
think about it. I'd be happy to prepare a presentation for a council
meeting, of course.

I just discovered riding bicycles on sidewalks is completely
prohibited in the city limits:
http://library.municode.com/HTML/13479/level4/PTIICOOR_CH34TR_ARTIIIOPVE_DIV2BI.html#PTIICOOR_CH34TR_ARTIIIOPVE_DIV2BI_S34-134RISIPR

As a resident of Mebane, I regularly use my bicycle for transportation
(library, groceries, school, church, etc) and am teaching my children
to do the same. However, most of Mebane is not particularly friendly
to bicycles, especially S 3rd St Ext from Holmes St to Roosevelt. The
shoulders are narrow and the speed limit is high.

I propose either of the two options for the city:
- Bicycle lanes in key areas of the city to reduce the annoyance
factor of bicycles. I recognize this involves significant cost due to
the required widening of roads, but believe it's a very good
investment. Specifically, the area of 3rd St I mentioned, as well as
all of 5th St from Downtown to Mebane Oaks Rd. Even better would be
all the way to the interstate on 5th St.
- More simply, update the law to match cities such as Cambridge, MA.
Something along the lines of, "Bicycles shall be permitted to ride on
sidewalks at no more than 5 miles per hour." Cambridge in particular
calls out specific areas of the city making it illegal to ride on the
sidewalk, e.g. Harvard Square. Also, requiring the cyclist to yield to
foot traffic would be an excellent idea.

I recognize bicycles occupy an awkward middle area between cars and
foot traffic, being an annoyance to one and a danger to the other. I
also recognize there just aren't more than a handful of regular
cyclists. On the other hand, however, it seems unnecessary to require
families to fire up their large vehicles just to travel a mile to the
library or grocery store because the road is unsafe, especially as gas
prices rise and the economy stagnates.