Oconee County should embrace cycling
Oconee County should approach cycling as an economic and tourism issue, as well as a public safety issue. I am always happy to give cyclists the shoulder of the road and make sure there is no approaching traffic from the other side before passing them with plenty of room. I also have no problems with cyclists going two abreast when biking in a pair or pack. We need to build stand-alone bike trails and paths off the road and make narrow roads like Simonton Bridge/Whitehall have paved adjacent bike lanes as a means to prevent the road from unnecessarily expanding.
What opponents to cycling fail to realize, this is not a liberal-conservative issue, nor a Republican-Democratic issue, nor even a Bike Athens-Oconee County issue, but instead it is a legitimate concern for all people who drive a vehicle or pedal a bike. It goes well beyond traditional political or social divisions with just as many conservative Republican cyclists as there as liberal Democratic bike enthusiasts. People pedal from adjacent counties and communities to pedal around Oconee County and Watkinsville. I bike with my son to Bishop and back to Watkinsville sometimes.
My very conservative Christian neighbors own a bike shop in Athens and Oconee counties. It will be interesting to see the reaction on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners to this important issue and how it effects change for our immediate and long term future here. There should be bikes paths from Herman C. Michael to Oconee Veterans Park, from North Oconee to Oconee County High School, from Oconee Middle to Oconee Primary schools, from Rocky Branch to Malcolm Bridge schools, from High Shoals Elementary to Lane Creek, from Bishop to Farmington and many other routes. We need to embrace cycling as much as possible as quickly as possible. Signage is only a very tentative first step. Let's work together to make a safe consensus as quickly as possible.
Editorial: Safe cycling requires some mutual respect || OnlineAthens.com
What opponents to cycling fail to realize, this is not a liberal-conservative issue, nor a Republican-Democratic issue, nor even a Bike Athens-Oconee County issue, but instead it is a legitimate concern for all people who drive a vehicle or pedal a bike. It goes well beyond traditional political or social divisions with just as many conservative Republican cyclists as there as liberal Democratic bike enthusiasts. People pedal from adjacent counties and communities to pedal around Oconee County and Watkinsville. I bike with my son to Bishop and back to Watkinsville sometimes.
My very conservative Christian neighbors own a bike shop in Athens and Oconee counties. It will be interesting to see the reaction on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners to this important issue and how it effects change for our immediate and long term future here. There should be bikes paths from Herman C. Michael to Oconee Veterans Park, from North Oconee to Oconee County High School, from Oconee Middle to Oconee Primary schools, from Rocky Branch to Malcolm Bridge schools, from High Shoals Elementary to Lane Creek, from Bishop to Farmington and many other routes. We need to embrace cycling as much as possible as quickly as possible. Signage is only a very tentative first step. Let's work together to make a safe consensus as quickly as possible.
Editorial: Safe cycling requires some mutual respect || OnlineAthens.com
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