The Blog Page

News, commentary and humor about bicycling and other topics of the day

 

MetroLink trail update

There's good news for those of you who use the MetroLink bicycle trail in Belleville. It's a lot easier to ride from Southwestern Illinois College to the Belleville station because of the traffic signal that has been placed at the SWIC entrance at Greenmount Road. Cyclists are able to activate the crosswalk signal so they can safely cross Greenmount and get on the southbound lane of the trail.

Before the signal, cyclists had to endure long waits and small gaps to get to the southbound lane. The less patient cyclists among us often rode against traffic in the northbound lane, not a wise thing to do on that road.

The one downside of the crosswalk signal is that cyclists have to get off the path to activate the signal. It's too bad the planners of that signal didn't check with the people who designed the crosswalk signals at several Madison County trails so that they could have placed a button in easy reach of a cyclist on the path.

While the crosswalk signal is one of many flaws on the MetroLink trail -- too many stop signs and sharp turns -- St. Clair County residents should use the trail to show public officials there is a demand for bicycling trails. Let's hope O'Fallon leaders are successful in their efforts to build a trail designed to link into the Madison County trails.

Wouldn't it be nice if St. Clair County had a network of trails that take people places like the network Madison County has?

Roger 0 comments 3:33 PM