Sharp views divide crowd on developing pedestrian-biking trains in Lawrence County

Opinions of the proposed routes and what form they will take reflected sharp contrasts within the crowd.

Landowners and taxpayers voiced concerns about crime, personal safety of trail users, whether property easements would be necessary, personal liability, the cost of adding pedestrian paths and future maintenance of them. Many of them came wearing red stickers shaped like stop signs and representing a property owners group named STOP, which stands for Save Taxes and Our Property.

Trail enthusiasts spoke in support of the plan as a means to improve the health of residents and make the area more attractive to new business investment and people.

One speaker captured the feelings of both. Dr. Doug Weir, a Mitchell dentist, described himself as a trail user and rural landowner who worries about trespassers on his land.

He said the concerns landowners have about trails that would follow abandoned rail beds that cut through private property are based on fear.

"It may be irrational, but it is very potent," he said.

He said the fear is very real to landowners because of something called right of subrogation, which means a landowner could be sued for liability if a trail user leaves the public access trail and becomes injured while on that landowner's property.

As an example, he said if someone uses a public trail, then departs it to enter a cave on private property and becomes trapped or hurt, the property owner, as a third party, could be sued by the injured person's insurance carrier.

Even though such instances aren't likely to happen, the fact that a landowner could be sued makes the likelihood feel very real.

"I'd like to see these unexpected events be covered so landowners could be held harmless," said Weir. "Landowners would be more in favor of these trails if they knew there were people on their side."

Much of the two-hour meeting was devoted to proposed routes and the options those pathways could take.

Ken Remenschneider of Remenschneider Associates, the consultanting firm developing the plan, said paths can be as simple as adding a bike lane to an existing street, creating a sharrow, which is a shared lane marked for bicycles; sidewalks, side paths, which are separate from vehicle traffic and often run parallel with the road or street; and a cycle track, which is a raised separation from traffic and allow two-way bike traffic.

Sharrows, said Remenschneider, are among the easiest to create because they use existing public right of way and only require painted lane markings, slight altering of vehicle usage and signage.

"We're trying to do everything within the public right of way," he said. "We're looking at corridors that make the most sense."

The paths that were shown to the audience were proposed by community members who attended a planning session in November.

An advisory committee will meet again in March and the final draft of the master plan will be presented to the Bedford City Council on May 10.

"A master plan will roll out over time," he said. "It is a guide for your city to do future planning. When you get ready to apply for funding for roads, it is easier for these facilities to be included when you already have a master plan."

Glenn Gross, a member of the Oolitic Town Council, attended to see how the plan incorporated a route into Oolitic. One of the proposed routes in Oolitic included a bike lane or sharrow along Hoosier Avenue.

"I think it's good for our community," he said. "We're a small town with the Dollar Store, Casey's, a school, you can bike to a lot of places. I don't see this as a being a cost factor since we maintain the road anyway."

Although Gross favored the route, another resident of Oolitic spoke up and questioned whether the public cost would be worth any perceived benefit.

Bedford Mayor Shawna Girgis said the goal of the master plan is not to irritate the public or take private property.

"When we plan for things like pedestrian trails, we want people to embrace these things," she said. "These ideas came from the public to create opportunities for the future."

For Allen Burris of Mitchell the master plan represents a chance to see his county grow into one that his children and grandchildren will be proud to call home.

"I love Lawrence County. I lived away for years but I chose to come back," said Burris. "The county has declined, obesity has increased."

He spoke of riding his bike on the Milwaukee Trail Saturday and counting 50 people on the trail walking, running or riding bikes.

"I don't know they would have been out doing those things without the trail being there," he said. "More trails mean better opportunities to get people and out moving. I have four kids. Two of them live elsewhere. I would love them to come back and live."

He said good parks and pedestrian trails are what his adult children and other millennials are looking for.

"These trails would be a great economic development move in our community."