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Cyclists thankful for city’s bike trail efforts
By Ann Marie Shambaugh, Staff Writer
As the cost of driving a car goes up, the option of using a bicycle to get around town is gaining traction.
To help cyclists of all levels, the City of Frisco is revising its Hike and Bike Trail master plan, which was approved by the Parks and Recreation Board last month. The new plan needs approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council before it takes effect, but many cyclists are thankful for the progress so far.
To show their appreciation, a group of cyclists will ride to the George A. Purefoy Municipal Center on Monday for the monthly Coffee with the Mayor.
City officials met with Frisco cycling enthusiasts to update the 2002 plan. Frisco Parks Planning and Business Development Manager Dudley Raymond said that since the last revision, neighboring communities have developed and updated their hike and bike plans.
“It was important to be able to connect up with Prosper and the towns to our west,” Raymond said at a town hall meeting Monday.
Eventually the town hopes to also connect to a Six Cities Trail Plan between McKinney, Allen, Plano, Richardson, and Garland.
The new master plan also increases the number of streets designated as thoroughfares for cyclists and cars to share, and eliminates separate bike lanes.
"The reasons we as a club don't support bike lanes are because there are safety issues at intersections and they tend to collect trash,” FCC president Geoffrey Davis said. “We believe by making the outside lane wider - either by just restriping the inner lanes to be narrower or by making the road wider- it makes the roadway safer for all users, not just cyclists.”
Davis said that he supports lane restriping to provide 11-foot wide left and middle lanes and a 14-foot wide right lane for cars and bicycles to share. He also hopes to see signage and a map to educate drivers about the bike routes.
"We want to start developing routes, with signs, and get lanes restriped to add some extra space on the outside lane,” Davis said. “With these improvements, we know we’ll see more cyclists around town. We have cyclists in our community n it’s just a matter of making them feel more comfortable getting around town on their bicycle.”
The city is attempting to help serious cyclists and recreational riders navigate through Frisco with the new plan. Experienced riders will be able to use on-street bike routes, while less serious cyclists may use the off-street trail system on wide sidewalks.
Off-street trails are planned along U.S. Highway 380, State Highway 121, Lebanon Road, Stonebrook Parkway, Rolater Road, Eldorado Parkway, and elsewhere. Each path will have a sidewalk at least 6 feet wide.
Open space or greenway trails are planned to follow the city’s natural drainage pattern, and are proposed along Panther Creek, Parvin Branch, Cottonwood Branch, Rowlett Creek, Stewart Creek, and White Rock Creek.
Although the master plan revisions have not been approved, cyclists believe that the city is pedaling in the right direction to make Frisco a bicycle-friendly community.
"What I've watched is the city getting a little bit more proactive, recognizing that getting around town by automobile isn’t the only answer,” Davis said.
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