BEDFORD — Peering at maps of Lawrence County and Bedford Monday night, about three dozen people used narrow strips of colored tape to express their ideas about walking and bicycling options in the community.
In some cases, stripes ran from Bedford North Lawrence High School into downtown Bedford, then south to Mitchell. Others circled Spring Mill State Park. Some ran all the way from the former Avoca Fish Hatchery property through Oolitic and Bedford and on south through Mitchell to the state park.
Some of the stripes followed State Road 37. Others followed former railroad lines. Some stuck to city streets and county roads. More than one led to the original, but long closed, entrance to Spring Mill.
The session at the StoneGate Arts & Education Center was part of the idea-gathering process as consultants work up a pedestrian and bicycle master plan. The idea is to develop a long-range plan local officials can implement in stages. In the end, the hope is to promote more healthful activities and more links within the community.
Ken Remenschneider of Remenschneider Associates, a consulting firm, provided three sets of maps. The three-dozen people at the meeting split into thirds. Each group generated ideas, expressed them with tape on the map, then shared them with the group and with the consultants. The firm will use those ideas as it proceeds.
Before the mapping exercise, Remenschneider told the group the various trails and paths might follow historic routes, such as rail lines and highways. They also could hit cultural and community highlights — for example, limestone monuments and quarries, or the memorials to the late astronaut Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom.
“They’re like threads that weave through your city and up to Oolitic and down to Mitchell,” he said.
They provide a way for the community to tell its “unique history,” he said. For example, he said many residents have told him they appreciate the gentle slope of the Milwaukee Trail. That slope is gentle because the trail is on a former railroad line, and trains cannot traverse steep grades.
Also, he said, in contrast to traveling in vehicles, people who are walking and biking are more likely to meet others and converse on the trails and pathways. Those facilities can provide links between people.
“They get to know people in the community and build that social connection,” he said.
In addition to Monday’s meeting, the consulting firm also is running an online survey to gather ideas about the master plan. Brandon Schreeg, project manager for Remenschneider and Associates, reviewed the results so far. (People have until noon Friday to fill out the survey at www.remenschneider.com/survey.)
Thus far, he said, more than 300 people have started the survey, and 237 have completed it. Of those 237:
• 43 percent walk four or more blocks two to five times a week.
• 83 percent say they want to walk more often.
• More than half ride a bike at least once a month. But 43 percent almost never ride a bike. And 81 percent want to ride more often.
• 92 percent say they walk or bike because it is good for their health.
• 26 percent say they walk or bike because it is “more fun than driving.”
Schreeg also noted two other numbers. Thirty-five percent say their walking and riding has increased “significantly” since the construction of the Milwaukee Trail. And another 34 percent say their walking and riding has increased “some.”
The numbers, Schreeg said, indicate people will use walking and biking facilities — from trails and pathways to bike lanes — if more are provided in the area.
Of the people taking the survey, 35 percent live in Bedford, 13 percent in the city’s downtown. Another 34 percent live in Lawrence County, with 8 percent in Mitchell, 4 percent in Oolitic, and the rest in other communities.
The group also heard that local officials could take some simple steps to promote biking.
One relatively cheap and easy step would be to provide more bike racks at strategic locations in the city. When more bike racks are available, the consultants said, bike riding tends to increase in a community.