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April 14, 2006
Speed Limit on An Indiana Bike Trail
In February the city of Carmel, near Indianapolis, decided to crack down on cyclists it perceives as speeding when using a popular suburban Bike Trail:
An Indianapolis suburb is putting a speed limit on bicyclists riding the Monon Trail.
The Carmel City Council voted Monday to impose a 15-mph limit on the southern part of the trail and a 20-mph speed limit farther north.
The speed limit is effective immediately, but speeders will not be prosecuted for a few weeks until signs are posted, CityA Douglas Haney said. Violators face a $50 fine.
The Carmel Police Department will enforce the ordinance through radar guns and bike patrol officers using speedometers or making educated estimates of speed, Haney said.
Some bicyclists at the council meeting protested the speed limit on the former railroad right of way.
Carmel resident Joe Gibson said he uses the trail to commute to work, pedaling at speeds ranging from 15 mph to 20 mph. He said he rarely passes anyone when he commutes and always slows down voluntarily.
This seems a bit much, at 1st glance.
I guess the city ain't getting enough revenue from Traffic Tickets. ;-D
Indianapolis has no plans to create speed limits on its 10.5 miles of the trail. But Ray Irvin, who helped create the trail and is now the state’s director of greenways and bikeways, said it is appropriate to consider speed limits and other security measures.
“Ten years ago, we were just thrilled to see someone up on the Monon,” Irvin said. “But now we need congestion mitigation.”
Carmel will also post larger stop signs on the Monon to remind trail users they must stop before crossing intersections.
The stop signs make sense, but I wonder just how many cyclists using this trail, on a daily basis, are doing so at speeds over 20, or even 25 mph?
When I ride similar trails here I rarely hit 20 mph.
My Average Speed has always been around 12mph for as long as I've been using an odometer ( 10years ).
With the possibility of a Cop ticketing them based on "educated estimates of speed" I can imagine more cyclists will be getting Odometers, and pointing the numbers out in their defense when stopped, and even trying to use the Averages at Traffic Court to try to beat the ticket. ;-D
FT. WAYNE.COM ( 2/8 ): Carmel places speed limit on trail bicyclists.
April 14, 2006 in Life on the Street: Local, and state Laws, and other topics | Permalink
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Comments
There has been speeding problems on a popular rail-trail in Philadelphia. Some bike clubs have been running pelatons down the trail at 23+ mph. The recommended max speed is 15 mph. A pelaton running down a lttle kid on a tricycle is not good advertisement for the bike club.
It didn't say if this was a rail trail or not. Those tend to have very mild grades. But if there are any downhills on the trail, lots of people will go over 20 mph. Again, the above Philadelphia railtrail, while having 1-2% grades in most spots, has two transitions where they had to move it from one grade to another. In both spots there is probably a 6% grade for about a city block. Just coasting down it is easy to go over 20. Unfortunately, the sight lines and curves are not designed for such speeds and there have been numerous accidents in these spots.
Part of the problem is that most bicycle trails are not designed as real transportational corridors, with proper sight-lines, width, shoulders and obstruction elimination. They are designed as linear parks.
Ideally, if they were for transportation, they should be a little overdesigned, with sight lines and surfaces good for at least 20 mph on the flats and much higher on slopes. And, of course, decent intersection designs and transitions from the trail to nearby surface roads.
Posted by: peteathome | Apr 14, 2006 6:01:48 AM
Hi Pete!
Good points.
I had forgot about Club Rides, and Racers.
On Weekends tose folks come out of the woodwork and, ofcourse, cause a problem.
Here there are 3 major Bike Trails of 30 or miles in length:
The San Gabriel Rive Trail, and the Rio Hondo/ Los Angeles River, both in Los Angeles County.
The Santa Ana River Trail, which passes my home, here in Orange County.
These routes are flat routes, for the most part, with the only real downhills being brief trips under street, and freeway, overpasses.
I see the club rides, and if they are coming toward me I remain vigilant in staying on my side of the path, which is clearly divided by direction.
Why these folks would want to go more that 15 to 20mph on these trails is beyond me, but I am not suprised to know it happens.
Posted by: Kiril Kundurazieff | Apr 14, 2006 8:17:29 AM
I'm a racer. I stick to roads whenever possible. There is a training race where we sometimes warm up on a short section of trail, but we never ride in groups of more than 2-3 and our speeds usally are low (we're warming up). Trails are dangerous at speed, so many roller-bladers, walkers, runners and what-not. So, I don't have a real problem with speed limits, but for the most part I'm indifferent to trails because I use them so rarely.
I can't imagine why a club ride would want to use more than a very brief section of trail to bypass some horrible traffic situation.
Posted by: Mark Olson | Apr 14, 2006 10:11:49 AM
This post has made me very happy.
It seems to me that the underlying message here is that bicycles are being seen as mainstream transport, and as such, need to have speed limits applied.
Congratulations.
Posted by: pedaller | Apr 14, 2006 4:32:23 PM
Speed signs on every bike trail, and cops, even on bikes, roaming the trails?
I don't see it becoming a widespread practice. ;-D
Think of the Jurisdiction problems on 40 mile or longer trails that pass thru numerous city, or county areas.
Posted by: Kiril Kundrazieff | Apr 19, 2006 9:38:57 AM
