Oregon gets funding for Phase 4 of bike path

        Oregon City Council recently authorized the mayor to enter into an agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) for funding from the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) for the bid and construction of the Oregon Trail Bikeway – Phase 4.
        The city received $220,000 in grant funding from the FHA through ODOT for the bid and construction of a 10’ bike path between Brown Road and Pickle Road.
        The total cost of the project is estimated to be $275,000.
         “This is the next step in continuing our bike trail project,” said Mayor Mike Seferian.
        The city applied for a grant through the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACOG) and received funds that pay for 80 percent of the cost of the project, said Public Service Director Paul Roman.
        Council President Dennis Walendzak thanked Roman “for continuing to provide bike paths for our community that will tie into that area of Oregon.”
        “It will be able to reach one side of Oregon all the way to the lake,” said Walendzak. “I know at one time we spoke about trying to team with Northwood to tie it into one of their parks.”
        “One of the things we put in our application is that this helps make that connection,” said City Administrator Mike Beazley. “So it does head south and we’re excited about that. We let the folks in Northwood know that it will be heading in their direction.”
               
Safety concerns
        Councilman Tim Zale expressed concerns about the safety of a bike path on Brown Road.
         “What kind of room do people have on Brown Road to actually use this bike trail? I know Brown Road,” said Zale, a retired Oregon police officer. The speeds of vehicles moving down Brown Road, he added, pose a safety risk to users of the bike path.  
        “I’m a little concerned about people using Brown Road to access that trail. We don’t have a bike lane on Brown Road,” said Zale.
        Roman said the bike trail from Pickle Road to Navarre Avenue was widened, which improved safety.
        “Pickle Road was widened on each side, so there was at least a two-foot pavement outside the road’s edge. That’s not a lot, but it’s a lot more than what was there before,” said Roman. Quite honestly, I’d like to see sidewalks and other things come down that way. But Brown may take longer. I don’t think Pickle is that far away from putting in sidewalks. I do think when you repave these roads, you need to make them a little wider and bring in those edge lines that will actually slow down speeds.  It will provide more path for pedestrians.”
        “If I lived on Brown Road,” said Zale, “I would be very concerned about getting my bicycle and driving down Brown Road to go on the bike path. I love the idea, don’t get me wrong, but that concerns me a lot. I’m guessing the average speed on Brown Road is 45 miles per hour.”
        Beazley said there are kids who currently bike down Brown Road.
        “This will get more people off roadways ultimately by having the space there long term,” he said. People in the area, he added, are looking forward to it.
        “Some of the folks in subdivisions along Brown Road will have connections to their backyards. Some of them are already asking us how soon it will be done. It’s not just on Brown Road, but in subdivisions next to it, properties that abut to it. They are excited about it.”
        Roman said grant dollars are only awarded to communities with regional projects instead of only local projects.
        “That doesn’t mean we don’t have a master plan to look at widening roads, or putting in sidewalks or bike paths along these roads. It’s just that grant money is not available for a local road. If we don’t establish these mainline paths, we’ll never get the interest on the local roads,” said Roman.
 
Challenges
        Walendzak said he would like to see police officers teach younger students how to safely use their bicycles.
        “I’d like to see if we can work with the police department. I would really like to see us develop some kind of program where we could go into the schools and remind them of bicycle safety,” said Walendzak.
        “I like that idea,” said Beazley. “With that suggestion, I will reach out to the police on this. Right now, kids are biking on Brown Road, and they’re taking Lallendorf to Coy roads to connect up with the trail system. All of it is kind of disconcerting from time to time. More long-term, we are going to have better roadways, more sidewalks and better east-west access. But in the meantime, even though we have good trails and crossings, we have some challenges. I think we can do some things with both police and streets to keep people safe. We have a great street system – but our greatest risk is falling in our homes and getting into traffic accidents. We have more traffic deaths than we want – pedestrians, passengers, cyclists and people in cars. I think there are some things that can help us.”
        Councilman James Seaman said perhaps bike safety could be included in the DARE program.
        “As kids get a little older and want to travel to each other’s houses, some kids don’t know if they should go against traffic or with traffic,” said Seaman. “Maybe the DARE officers could work on that in addition to the fine job they already do.”