Bonita Springs debates bike lanes at Hickory Blvd--Make your voices heard!

Naples Daily News
Some Bonita Springs beach residents seek more room for biking, walking along road

By TARA E. McLAUGHLIN
Updated 01:58 p.m., August 18, 2010

BONITA SPRINGS — Residents on Hickory Boulevard who say they have no safe place to walk have urged Bonita Springs to do something about it.

Dennis Calabresa experienced firsthand the dangers pedestrians face on a road with no shoulder or sidewalk. A woman staying in his home a couple of years ago was killed as she was walking home from a restaurant.

Residents want City Council to consider supporting 4-foot shoulders for biking and walking.

“I can’t say that she would be alive today but she’d have had a better chance if she did have a space she could walk on,” Calabresa said.

There is a bike path on the east side, several feet away from the road. However, there is nothing along the west side.

While several supported the widening, one couple had their own safety concerns leading them to oppose widening.

“We’re concerned it will be an opportunity for people to pass on the right,” said Jerry Sauber. “(It will) encourage people to not observe the speed limit.”

But Neil Arnal, vice president of the Bonita Beach Improvement Association, said a majority of homeowners who responded to a survey supported adding shoulders.

“It’s dangerous to bike on, to get your mail, to walk on,” Arnal said. “It’s hard to go and talk to your neighbor.”

To read the rest of the article, click here.

christina cepero • ccepero@news-press.com •
News-Press
August 18, 2010

4:03 P.M. — The city of Bonita Springs will ask the
Lee County transportation department to answer city
staff’s questions and gather input from residents
before adding bike lanes to Hickory Boulevard.

Council voted 6-0 today to take that action.
Councilwoman Janet Martin was absent.

Lee County’s proposed 2010-2011 budget includes
$500,000 in gas taxes set aside to build 4-foot bike
lanes on each side of Hickory, which runs along
Bonita Beach. It is a county road.

City Manager Gary Price presented council with a list
of impacts, mostly negative, the lanes would have
including: To continue reading the article, click here:

BWL advocates: If you live in Bonita Springs or Estero or ride in this area, please contact the Bonita Springs City Council members in support of these bike lanes.
You can find their names & connect with them by e-mail by clicking on “Meet Us” at the top of the page on their website. Click here:

You should also contact Lee County Commissioners, asking them to keep the Hickory Blvd. bike lanes in the county's transportation budget. Contact info is below:
CONTACT YOUR LEE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

• John Manning, District 1, 533-2224, Dist1@leegov.com
• Brian Bigelow, District 2, 533-2227, Dist2@leegov.com
• Ray Judah, District 3, 533-2223,
Dist3@leegov.com
• Tammy Hall, District 4, 533-2226, Dist4@leegov.com
• Frank Mann, District 5, 533-2225, Dist5@leegov.com

• Mailing address:
P.O. Box 398,
Fort Myers, FL 33902-0398;

• Fax: 485-2143.

UPDATE: LEEDOT WRITES LETTER TO BONITA SPRINGS 9/17/10:

"Generally, adding paved shoulders to Hickory Boulevard provides both improved operation and reduced maintenance. Paved shoulders have been shown to reduce the number of run-off-the-road crashes and provide a safer place for cyclists and pedestrians to travel. Specifically, we plan to create two 11-foot travel lanes with 4-foot shoulders striped and signed as designated bike lanes. In addition, Hickory Boulevard will be milled, resurfaced, and re-striped and we'll resurface the existing off-road bike path as well, creating a very functional corridor for many years to come. We plan to do the work sometime after Easter 2011 to lesson the impact on seasonal traffic..."

Kudos to LeeDOT for their strong support of bike lanes when faced with concerns from Bonita Springs. We look to these new bike lanes next year!