What you’re saying: Results of BikeWalkLee’s survey

Readers of this column may remember that back in November BikeWalkLee hosted an open house at Lakes Park in order to hear from you. While it’s clearly not comprehensive, we got good feedback on what people care about. Here’s what 176 respondents had to say in the casual survey:

When asked what you do the most, driving led for almost 65 percent of the respondents, followed by biking and walking/ running. But if you could change that, biking came out on top for 62 percent of those responding, followed by walk/run and then driving.

Suggestions to improve transportation options in Lee County ranked in the following order:

• More bike/walk facilities

• More mass transit choices

• Better connections between existing  bike/walk facilities

• Better enforcement of existing laws

• More consideration and planning for the needs of all users of Lee County streets.

• More promotion of biking/walking/mass transit as an alternative to driving.

• More laws protecting bikers, walkers and mass transit users.

• Better coordination between governmental entities on bike/walk issues.

When asked about feelings of safety while engaged in biking, 48.8 percent said safe or very safe, 51.2 percent said no and that they would not bike here. About walking safety, 68 percent said safe/very safe while 32 percent said no or wouldn’t do it. And when asked about using mass transit, 51 percent said safe/very safe while 39 percent said no or they wouldn’t use it. Exactly what was meant by “wouldn’t do/use it” is unclear.

Ranking of why you bike or walk: 1. Good for my health; 2. Good method of transportation; 3. Good for the environment; 4. Good for my budget; and 5. Good for the community.

In response to the question about support for additional public investment in bike/walk/transit facilities in Lee County, almost everyone said yes, although they were split between “desperately needed” and “be selective how it is spent.” That was reflected in the follow-up question, asking how much more you would pay annually in taxes to support more facilities: Almost a third said $50 or more — the highest figure offered — while 20.7 percent said “$10-$20” and 16.7 percent said “$10.”

When asked about the best places for biking or walking in Lee County, most common responses were: Lakes Park, Sanibel, John Yarbrough Linear Park along Ten Mile Canal, and some of the quieter roads east of town. Answers about the worst place for biking or walking were a little more diverse, but U.S. 41 and the Sanibel tollbooth still garnered a lot of mentions from those surveyed. Some cast a wider net, implicating all of the county’s or the city’s streets as unsafe.

Most often mentioned as the most important thing that needs to be done in the next year include: extend the Summerlin Road path from McGregor Boulevard through the toll booths; connect existing bike paths; build more bike/walk facilities; improve public education on how bikers/ walkers and drivers cans share the road (and elsewhere) more safely; and ensure new roadways have adequate bike/walk infrastructure from design forward.

For more on the survey and other Bike- WalkLee efforts, visit http://bikewalklee. blogspot.com/.

Annual Trail Run

By now it may be too late to enter River, Ruts, & Roots since there’s a limit on the number of participants, but you can check on openings for the Half-Marathon and 5K at http://rrrtrail.com/. The event is happening Sunday, Jan. 3, on the foot and bike trails of Caloosahatchee Regional Park in Alva.

Until next time, I’ll look for you on the roads and trails. ¦

— Dan Moser is a league cycling instructor/ trainer and program manager for the Florida Bicycle Association. He may be contacted at dan@floridabicycle.org or 334-6417.