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2-county bicycle map to be ready for summer test ride
YOUNGSTOWN
A comprehensive two-county bicycle map should be ready for a test by local cyclists this summer.
Bethaney Krzys, a planner with Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, said the map will cover Mahoning and Trumbull counties and is modeled after one completed for the city of Youngstown.
Eastgate is gathering data about streets, including speed limits, traffic volume, pavement conditions and lane width. This summer, Eastgate is asking local cyclists to pedal the routes and note anything unusual that would be useful for other cyclists to know.
“Realistically, the map will be done in winter and everyone will have it in hand next spring,” she said.
The primary cost of the map is printing, and the Trumbull County Health Department already has offered between $1,000 and $1,500 to cover the cost, Krzys said.
Frank Krygowski of Out-Spokin’ Wheelman Bicycle Club, which created the Youngstown bike map, is pleased to hear of the progress on the two-county map.
“I think it’s great. It’s something I’ve been lobbying for, for a long time,” Krygowski said. He added that many Ohio cities, such as Cleveland and Cincinnati, already have regional bicycle transportation maps.
He said the group put a lot of “wheels on the ground” when developing its Youngstown map. Cyclists made notes of conditions that aren’t contained in data.
“We didn’t have a checklist of features, but you might have things, for example, like this road has a short, but steep grade to a stop sign at a busy intersection,” he said. “There’s data on percent grades of roads, but you don’t know it’s a very short, steep one near an intersection from the data.”
Krygowski said he expects the number of utility cyclists, those who ride for transportation, to grow.
“It’s become a little bit fashionable,” he said. “And we live in an age when obesity and lack of exercise are recognized as serious health problems and problems for our future. Rather than somebody budgeting an hour or two to go to a gym, they can get exercise as part of a regular routine with bicycling.”
Krygowski added that there are things to learn about riding a bike.
“Most people figure you get on the thing and pedal. ... The fundamental thing is making bicyclists understand that we do have full legal right to the road. They become gutter bunnies — hugging the side of the road — and that actually is more problematic and more dangerous than claiming enough lane to be safe,” he said.
People hug the curb because they’re nervous, but bike maps will show them routes where bicycling is safe.
“It’s been very common for people to assume that I take the freeway. The purpose of the bike map is to show there are much more pleasant routes,” he said.