Bicycle Board Members,
I'm forwarding this message to you so you will be aware of it. I did not run it by you for your concurrence because I judged that was not necessary. Please let me know if I've overstepped my bounds.
Frank Gmeindl Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles
Begin forwarded message:
From: Frank Gmeindl frank.gmeindl@comcast.net Date: August 10, 2010 12:50:08 PM EDT To: dboroff@cityofmorgantown.org Cc: rnutter@wvu.edu Subject: Trail closed?
Mr. Boroff,
Today, on my weekly grocery shopping trip to Aldi, I was dismayed to find what I believe is a Morgantown street torn up and blocked by a sign saying, "Trail Closed". The street connects Foundry St. to the trail. When is that going to be opened again? Could a sign stating the period that it will be closed be affixed to the Trail Closed sign? This street is a very popular access route for cyclists to the rail trail. As far as I could tell, the trail is not closed, just this street.
Recent stories in the Dominion Post exclaimed that the rail-trail is reopened after MUB's half-year closure of it Those of us paying closer attention are aware that MUB has planned to close the other half of the trail. Now, we just don't know when. Is this the beginning of that? As Chairman of the Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board, I would like to be able to inform cyclists of activities and plans that interrupt their use of our roadways as well as our recreational facilities to avoid surprises that could endanger them.
At a recent Traffic Commission meeting, the Morgantown Police representative on the Commission stated that the new bicycle police officers that patrol the trail will continue to do so as long as weather permits. I am compelled to tell you that several Morgantown area cyclists use the rail trail throughout the year to commute to work and other typical transportation destinations. They ride the trail in all weather except when it becomes covered with pocked and rutted ice because it is not cleared. For those cyclists, it is not weather that does not permit them to continue to use their machines for transportation but rather the lack of maintenance of the trail that one expects of all our thoroughfares.
Frank D. Gmeindl Chairman, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board LCI #1703 491 WilsonAvenue Morgantown, WV 26501 304-376-0446 Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles
