FIVE YEAR PLANNING COMMITTEE

RECREATIONAL PATHS

April 2003

The Sanibel Bicycle Club recognizes that conditions have changed as the result of the causeway difficulties and have tried to formulate a strategy for coping with the reduced funding that impacts all activities on Sanibel.

Residents, renters and tourists use the bicycle paths (Florida DOT call them Shared Use Paths). The paths are used by walkers, joggers, dog walkers, bladers, bird watchers, surrey riders as well as bicyclers. On Sanibel, the paths are also our sidewalks, which provide an increasingly important role in residential transportation for work, errands and meetings. Because of the causeway problem, biking has become a feasible alternative to driving, avoiding the long lines of traffic exiting the island. In addition, the increasing popularity of biking as a recreational activity, as reported in a recent COTI survey which found biking to be the favorite activity for residents on the island edging out golf, the beach, tennis and other recreational activities can be observed daily on our paths. The resulting congestion has had a negative impact on the safety of the people using these paths. Safety on the recreational paths should be our first priority.

The most dangerous area is the Periwinkle path that is still adjacent to the road with numerous curb cuts making bike/car accidents almost inevitable. Much work has been done to separate the bike path from Periwinkle Way and where that has been accomplished the result is excellent. It is important to continue this effort to completely separate Periwinkle vehicular traffic from the recreational paths. We recommend that the city move aggressively to obtain the easements required to complete the path behind the Sanibel Steakhouse to Casa Ybel Road. Completion of this path is imperative from a safety standpoint. It is hoped that easements can be obtained on a voluntary basis but the importance to safe biking requires this path to be completed even if legal action is required. This would remove the most dangerous remaining stretch on Periwinkle Way.

Continuation of the program to widen all paths to a minimum of 8’ should also move forward since the increasing biking traffic as well as the interaction of walkers, joggers and rollerbladers makes the narrow paths quite dangerous and prone to accidents. In a similar vein, prompt repaving of sections of root damage, cracks and holes, etc. are also necessary to protect the city from the inevitable liability issues that result from personal injuries sustained on these unsafe paths. The Sanibel Bicycle Club will continue to monitor and report to the Department of Public Works those sections that require maintenance in an effort to enhance safety and avoid litigation. We contend that it is better to spend money providing safe bike paths than legal settlements resulting from obviously unsafe paths.

Despite the funding problems, we should still focus on our long term goal of providing access to all areas of the island on safe recreational paths. We recommend that eventually every paved feeder road have a separate recreational path with a minimum width of 8’. Some but not all of these roads are as follows:

Dixie Beach Road from the existing path to the Bay

Dunlop Road from Periwinkle Way to Palm Ridge Road

Bowman’s Beach Road

Bailey Road

Island Inn Road

A future priority should be a recreational path on the North side of Periwinkle that would provide an alternative route and serve to divert traffic away from the existing Periwinkle Way path. The recreational path on the North side of Periwinkle would connect Causeway Road with the San-Cap path towards Captiva. Riders on the east end of the island would likely use this path to access the City Hall, Library, BIG Arts, the Historical Museum as well as Bailey’s shopping center, and the Post Office; or continue on San-Cap Rd. towards Ding Darling, The Shell Museum, SCCF Center and Bowman’s Beach. Children, especially, would benefit from a path on the North side of Periwinkle which would provide safe transit to the elementary school and playing fields in addition to the other destinations listed above. Over the years, there have been many discussions concerning the routing of a path on the North side of Periwinkle. It is recommended that Department of Public Works conduct a feasibility study with some alternative routes for consideration.

We realize that we are recommending an ambitions program in austere fiscal times. We would like to recommend some ideas for additional funding that should be explored. We recommend the city explore the following:

User Fees: The Sanibel Bicycle Club recommends the city investigate the costs and benefits of a user fee on bicycles for the support of the recreational paths on Sanibel. We are aware there are issues of fairness and enforcement, however; in light of the funding crisis perhaps this option needs to be explored. We would be pleased to help the city research this option, especially in how other communities have introduced a user fee and their experience with it.

Tourist Development Council Grants: Sanibel contributes far more to the Lee County Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau through the “bed tax” than it has ever received in grant money. This agency promotes biking on Sanibel as a desirable tourist activity but has determined that bike paths do not qualify for grant money. Perhaps the City Attorney should work with the TDC to revisit this issue.

Department Of Transportation Grants: The city should explore the possibility of obtaining some DOT grant money for demonstration projects. One possibility is the use of OGM (Open Grade Material) surface for use on the recreational paths. Another possibility is the total integration of the community with recreational paths as a transportation system.

OGM (Open Grade Material): Use this material for paving new recreational paths, halving the paving cost. This material has proven to be quite satisfactory in Ding Darling for biking use and is an environmentally friendly material. A good evaluation of this material could be made on the Periwinkle Way bypass.

Taxes: The Sanibel Bicycle Club supports the elimination of the rollback provision on the property tax. Furthermore, the Club thinks that recreational paths should be tax supported since they are a basic service, used by all residents, non-resident property owners, our children and grandchildren as well as visitors. The property tax appears to be the fairest, most cost effective way to fund this civic treasure.

The Sanibel Bicycle Club thanks the city for its support and the wonderful recreational paths that exists today. Although the “Causeway Crisis” will be with us for the next 4-5 years, we cannot cease funding these critical needs until the crisis passes. Safety and liability concerns as well as quality of life issues require the city to continue to fund these recreational paths. If we don’t, it is possible that liability settlements and lost tourist revenues will offset the cost of properly maintaining our paths. To this end, we offer the help and assistance of more than 200 members in any way possible to achieve these ambitious goals.

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By Joe Letourneau (letournj@peoplepc.com)