Implementation of Easley's bike plan has been moving forward - but not without some obstacles.
In mid-July, the city's Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee met with members of Easley's religious community to talk about a few issues that had recently surfaced. Debate about cars parking in the new bike lanes on South 1st and East 1st streets provided an opportunity to engage the community about the role and priority of biking. Religious groups are voicing their concerns about providing convenient parking to their members, especially older folks. The City has welcomed the debate, but is standing by the suggestions (and long term goals) of the bike plan. An idea about providing a weekly exemption on Sunday morning arose, but the City has said that they can't control county or state troopers writing citations to those who park in the bike lane. Parking in a bike lane is against South Carolina State law.
The Greenville News recently reported that Easley was awarded a grant to help create a multiuse path on Couch Lane. In a past post, I talked about how the area on Couch Lane was identified as a top priority in the Easley Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. Easley will get money from the Pickens County C-Fund Committee. Check out the story on your favorite search engine for more details. (To get around having to subscribe to Greenville News online, search for the article, and use the "cached" feature.)
The debate is a great way to engage the community that helps build safety, awareness and a greater understanding of the biking in the community. Everyone may not agree, but it's a process that is worthwhile - change and learning new things rarely happens over night! Great things are going on in Easley.
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