Bike/pedestrian coordinator position reinstated
BY PRU SOWERS
KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER
Unsure of where the money will come from, city commissioners nonetheless unanimously agreed May 19 to hire a bicycle/pedestrian coordinator.
The position was essentially eliminated after the 2008 death of Jim Malcolm, who was the previous coordinator. After Malcolm’s death, the position was absorbed into the city engineering department, and then assigned to Alison Higgins, the city’s Sustainability Coordinator. But Higgins has told city officials she is kept too busy with her other responsibilities enacting the city’s Climate Action Plan to give bicycle and pedestrian safety the attention it needs.
Key West is number one in the state for the percentage of its residents – 14 percent – who bike to work, according to Alison Morales Kerr, principal investigator for the state Department of Health in Monroe County. But it also leads in the number of bicycle and pedestrian accidents, she said.
“On the downside, and this is why we support this resolution, Monroe County is ranked No. 1 when it comes to pedestrian deaths out of 67 counties. That’s the average over the last eight years, which is pretty unfortunate for this community. And we’re ranked No. 1 out of 97 cities for bicycle injuries,” Morales Kerr told city commissioners.
Commissioners voted 4-o to reinstate the bicycle/pedestrian coordinator position. Commissioner Tony Yaniz, who sponsored the resolution, said encouraging walking and bicycle riding will protect the Key West environment and help out residents who can’t afford a car.
“You would think in the city of Key West riding a bicycle would be the safest and most natural thing to do. That’s not so,” he said.
Commissioner Teri Johnston went further, saying hiring a coordinator was “a long time coming” and that city officials need to make dramatic changes to streets and parking space to make it safer for bicyclists.
“The seven of us have to have the political will once that’s done to know we’ve got to change streets, the one-way streets. We’ve got to take some parking off so we can create safe bike lanes. We’re going to have to walk the walk. Let’s not put somebody in there to fail. Let’s back them up,” she said about the proposed coordinator.
Commissioner Mark Rossi was not convinced, however, that the new coordinator position would be a full-time job. And finding the money in the next fiscal year budget may not be easy even for a part-time position. But City Manager Jim Scholl, who is about to start planning the 2015/16 budget, seemed positive.
“We’ll make it work,” he said.
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Let’s start by enforcing ALL Traffic Laws for Bicycles! They are subject to the same Laws on the streets as the automobiles. RIGHT? They are a danger to themselves and probably what accounts for a lot of their injuries and deaths! has anyone looked at the causes of the deaths?
There are numerous times as a car driver I have had to slam on my brakes to keep from hitting bicycles that are violating the law. They run Red Lights. They squeeze in on the right side of cars at intersections even when the car has right turn signal on.
Let’s get the unsafe Bicyclists off the streets and make it safer!