Gainesville Still Not Bicycle-Friendly

Except for a brief period in 1987, I have lived in Gainesville, Florida since 1977. For most of that time I extensively used bicycle travel either for basic transportation, exercise, or leisure. I have recently been increasing my bicycle riding, largely in part due to a leg injury that sidelined me from running for a while. If there's anyone in Gainesville familiar with the road conditions for bicyclists, then I'm that one. And I sadly have to say that, in spite of this town's boasting of being so bicycle-friendly, it has a long, long way to go before I can agree with that assertion.

It is true that Gainesville has its share of bike paths, but upon closer examination those paths tend to encourage north-south travel and are noticeably lacking in an east-west direction through the central portion of the city. The major east-west roads running through the city's center, i.e. University Avenue/Newberry Road, North 8th Avenue, North 16th Avenue, and North 23rd Avenue, are all deficient in bicycle paths. It is hazardous for bicyclists to employ these routes. Instead, one has to go north to 39th or 53rd Avenue or south to Archer or Williston Road to be able to travel down bicycle paths east-west. Lately there has been much discussion about proposals to make a bike path down NW 16th Avenue, but there is a significant level of opposition to any change.

Part of this opposition arises from the notion that spending public funds for bike paths is a waste of money since not that many people use bicycles as transportation. I find this argument circular: a lot of people don't use bicycles as transportation because there aren't the needed bike paths to make them feel safe! Another part of the opposition is more cultural: the country/rural "Deep South" culture is embedded in this area and tends to regard those choosing bicycle travel as being effete and highbrow. Then, there are also many thousands of university students from other parts of the state and country who are wed to their cars and have neither patience for bicyclists nor any desire to share the road with them. Finally, there is this strange, perverse notion that I have noticed among drivers that somehow being behind a wheel in a motorized vehicle makes their lives more legitimate than that of a bicyclist who is just as legally entitled to a place on the public street.

So I am still not at all satisfied with how far my Gainesville has gone to promote bicycle travel by creating strategically-located bicycle lanes. You don't have to put one down every road; just give bicyclists a way to design a course that allows them to reach their destinations without imperiling themselves at the hands of careless, selfish, and inattentive drivers!