There’s Still Time to Chime In on Bicycle Plan

Imagine the 46 miles of the multi-purpose Ahnapee State Trail from Kewaunee to Sturgeon Bay being extended through the heart of Door County, all the way up to Gills Rock.

“That is the big dream, the super big dream,” said Sarah Gaskell, planning manager with the Wisconsin Bike Federation, as she outlined results to date of the survey for the Door County Bicycle, Pedestrian & Recreational Facilities Plan during a meeting held May 13 at the Gibraltar Community Center.

The idea to extend the biking/hiking/horse riding/snowmobile/cross-country skiing trail the length of Door County will definitely be included in the plan even though it is not likely to happen soon, Gaskell said.

“The idea behind it is if we don’t put it in the plan, it won’t happen,” she said. “It would take a lot of money, a lot of land acquisition or donation (or easement). But it would be a great facility for lots of people.”

It’s not too late to take the survey that will help with the development of the Door County Bicycle, Pedestrian & Recreational Facilities Plan. Gaskell said 450 people – a “statistically good number of responses” – had responded to the survey (which you can find online at surveymonkey.com/s/TLM2ZY7).

A couple of key questions ask respondents to state how safe they feel riding bicycles in Door County for both recreation and transportation.

A little more than 50 respondents said they feel very safe recreating on a bike and close to 200 said they feel somewhat safe, while 70-some were neutral on the subject and 10 indicated it is very dangerous to ride a bike for fun on Door County roads.

Those numbers changed drastically when respondents were asked about safety for biking as a means of transport. Only five percent of respondents felt it is very safe, 27 percent somewhat safe, 16 percent neutral, 35 percent somewhat dangerous, eight percent very dangerous and nine percent said the question did not apply.

Gaskell also announced that on that very day, the League of American Bicyclists had named both Sturgeon Bay and Appleton bicycle friendly communities. Both cities received bronze designations, which is the lowest level. As designated communities make more improvements, they can move up to silver, gold, platinum and, finally, the diamond level.

“I think it’s pretty cool, but it was a shock. I didn’t think we would get it the first year,” said Sturgeon Bay Community Development Director Marty Olejniczak. “We didn’t have a lot of formal improvements in place yet, so I thought it would be a long shot. For applications that aren’t approved, they give you a feedback where you need to improve and we thought that would be useful, but lo and behold, we were one of the 17 communities to get the designation.”

Olejniczak said the bike friendly designation should do three things for the city.

“It gives us some recognition so that people maybe associate Sturgeon Bay with biking,” he said. “Secondly, it provides some resources. I’m not sure what that is yet, but it is supposed to include that type of benefit.

“The third aspect this might do, I think it will lend some credibility to the city in its efforts to improve bicycle transportation. This at least gives us some credibility that we’re on the right track.”