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Pedaling Ahead in Door County

Northern Door cyclists could be riding a lot safer on peninsula roads in the near future thanks to the adoption of comprehensive bike plans in Fish Creek and the Village of Egg Harbor last year.

Sharrows like this could be used to mark shared lanes in Fish Creek.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) plans on resurfacing Highway 42 from Fish Creek to Sister Bay in 2013, and with a plan adopted, Gibraltar officials hope to bundle improvements to its bike and pedestrian paths into the next round of highway work.

Fish Creek is the hub of Door County tourism activity, but the town lacks bike lanes and signage of any kind and has no pedestrian paths to connect its downtown to Northern Door’s largest gathering places.

At the north end of the village where Spring Road, County F, and Gibraltar Road meet Highway 42, there are no sidewalks, crosswalks or bike lanes. This is also the intersection where the Door Community Auditorium, Gibraltar Schools, and the Door County YMCA are all located. Also in the immediate area are three lodging facilities, the entrance to Peninsula State Park, and the community’s only gas station.

Gibraltar Town Supervisor Brian Merkel believes the bike plan will help the town improve connectivity.

“It could include expansion of the sidewalk and adding a bike route up the hill to the school and YMCA,” Merkel said.

The town’s plan, produced by the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, also suggests an off-road shared-use path connecting Fish Creek to Ephraim. That path would run parallel to Highway 42 along the edge of Peninsula State Park and would take bikes off a busy stretch of 55-mph highway. That part of the plan would require cooperation and approval from the Department of Natural Resources.

Merkel is on the town’s bike plan implementation committee. He’s working to set up a meeting with the DOT to discuss the next steps in implementing parts of the plan.

Fish Creek’s bike plan includes possible off-street paths to bypass downtown and take bikers and pedestrians from Fish Creek to Ephraim. Graphic from the 2010 Gibraltar Bike and Pedestrian Plan.

Tom Huber, the DOT’s bicycle and pedestrian planner, says Door County is primed for biking improvements and is well-positioned for grants. He emphasized that the state grants are for biking as transportation, not recreation.

“We want to see connectivity,” Huber says.

The state has doled out almost $40 million for bike projects since 1993, and parts of Gibraltar’s plan could be eligible for grants to cover up to 80 percent of the cost of specific projects.

Gibraltar’s plan calls for only two small stretches of new off-road bike paths. The majority of improvements, as in Egg Harbor, would come in the form of widened shoulders, signage, and shared lane markings such as sharrows to direct bicyclists to their safest routes.

Like Gibraltar, the Village of Egg Harbor spent $5,000 for a bike plan, which Village Administrator Josh Van Lieshout says is already paying off.

“It’s a great document that helps us when it comes time to make street improvements or resurface the highway,” Van Lieshout says. “We know what we want to include.”

When the DOT resurfaced the highway through the village last year, they were asked to widen shoulders for bikes and pedestrians. The village is now working on a project to widen South Trail Road between its public beach and Highway 42 to make room for bikers and pedestrians.

“The land use in that area has increased dramatically in the last 25 years,” Van Lieshout says. The Landmark Resort, Fox Point Condominiums, and many new private residences have been built in the area, adding vehicle, bike, and walking traffic.

Baileys Harbor is in the early stages of creating a plan, and Liberty Grove has expressed interest. The City of Sturgeon Bay is in the implementation stages, with signs ready for installation, but some cycling enthusiasts would like to see the county and other communities get on board, and soon.

Bob Dickson is President of the Door County Silent Sports Alliance and an Egg Harbor Village Trustee. “I would love to see Ephraim and Sister Bay do this as well to connect the northern part of the peninsula,” he says. “The more complete we can make this, the better. When the state comes through to do the highway, that’s the time to do this. If you miss the cycle of road resurfacing, it’s on to the next generation 10 or 15 years down the road.”

Paul Anschutz of Sturgeon Bay says a countywide plan would provide a focal point and funding advantages for bike planning efforts.

“A comprehensive plan would give the county a starting point and a finish point,” Anschutz says. “It gives you the ability to pursue grant funding. Last year, not one comprehensive plan was turned down for funding by the state.”

Door County Supervisor Ben Meyer is heading up a workgroup to look into a county plan. He said they plan to present to the county Highway Committee in July, with the goal to apply for a planning grant by August 2. That grant could supply up to 80 percent of funding for a countywide plan, but he said the rest will likely have to come from private fundraising, which would mean coming up with $20,000 for a plan estimated to cost about $100,000.