Read the article - I'm sure you will be amused (and [censored]). This is all about a nice paved trail
that reverts to public roads for a short distance. The public roads in question have very infrequent
car traffic - maybe a couple an hour. I'm going to the board meeting - any suggestions?
----------------------------------------------------------
September 4, 2003 article in the News Graphic "Ozaukee County's Newspaper since 1883"
Trail cyclists continue to ignore signs.
Grant might ease problem by taking part of trail off-road.
By Chris Mier, News Graphic Staff
Grafton - They say they do it for the exercise, but some bicyclists still fail to heed local stop
signs - even after a 14-year-old Cedarburg boy was hit by a car three weeks ago after peddling
across Western Avenue without stopping.
Surprisingly, though, the problem pertains more to Lycra-clad race-style bikers than defiant
teenagers.
Town Chairman Lester Bartel said he's heard of three cars swerving into the ditch to avoid careless
cyclists exiting the Interurban Trail onto the intersection of Terminal and East River roads.
Bartel lives on East River Road and said he has sat out at the intersection outlet counting the
number of bikers plowing into the road with stopping. Four of 15 cyclists rode into the road without
stopping, or even looking to see if any cars are coming Bartel said.
"They're always the same people doing it," Bartel said. "They're the guys in the spandex pants and
the funny shoes that want to look like Lance Armstrong. It's not the casual bikers. By and large the
majority of the people are really good. It's the people trying to see how many thousand miles they
can get in the next 20 minutes. They must think they're up north on some endless rail line, but
they're not."
The town recently decided to lower the speed limit along East River Road from unmarked to 35 mph,
partially in response to the dangerous cyclists.
Bartel said the problem cyclists are not just ignoring the signs on the trail, but even the stop
signs on the roads.
"There are trucks that go down that road," Bartel said, "and a dump truck isn't going to stop, it
can't, and that nobody's been hit is beyond me. It' s asinine."
The problems with renegade racers doesn't stop there either.
Lt. Cory McCormick of the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office said every spring he issues standard
warnings to a couple of bicycling clubs who take Highway C to Lake Shore Road and up to Port
Washington, regularly garnering complaints from motorists for ignoring stop signs and other rude
biker behaviors.
The groups typically drive their bikes here from Milwaukee and start their ride in Mequon,
McCormick said.
"We've had numerous complaints that they take the whole road up and they don 't obey signals and so
forth," McCormich said. "This has been an ongoing issue for several years with us, so as soon as we
get the first complaint of the year, we'll make contact with the clubs immediately when they come up
and let them know any complaints will result in citations."
There haven't been any citations issued so far, McCormick said, mainly because the warnings have
worked, but also because it's nearly impossible to ticket a cyclist unless a violation is observed
by a deputy.
McCormick also said the Sheriff's Department would increase its patrols along Terminal and East
River Roads if it begins receiving complaints from residents or the county.
County Planner Andrew Struck said he hasn't received any formal complaints about bicyclists
neglecting the stop signs at the Terminal and East River roads intersection, but said he has
observed infractions himself and is aware of the general dangers posed by that stretch of the trail.
The county has applied for two state grants to bring the trail off the road at that stretch in the
town of Grafton and in another in Port Washington, and Struck said preliminary indications are
favorable for the first grant.
The grant, combined with a 20 percent county match, would pay for the trail to be taken off-road at
the midpoint along terminal between East River Road and Highway W. It would continue over I-43 to
where it picks up as an off-road trail now.
Even if the plan is carried out, however, the intersection where the trail lets out onto Terminal
Road would remain largely unchanged.
Struck will field questions from the Grafton Town Board next Wednesday regarding possible
enforcement actions against problematic cyclists.
------------------------------------