One Mid-Missouri resident is hoping to increase bicycle safety in Jefferson City.
At the city's Transportation and Traffic Commission meeting Wednesday, Karl Staub told commission members he would like to see more of an outreach effort to educate both drivers and bicycle riders about the rules of the road.
Staub told a story of his own experience cycling in Jefferson City. He was in the road on East McCarty Street and a vehicle behind him repeatedly honked the horn until Staub stopped and spoke with the driver. Turns out, he said, the driver believed bicycles were not supposed to be in the road and should be ridden on the sidewalk, when bicycles are supposed to be used in the roadway.
"That was an epiphany for me," Staub said. "I think we've got a challenge in this city. ... We do have safety issues."
He said he realized the bulk of Jefferson City drivers probably are unaware of the rules of the road when bicycles are involved and many cyclists may be unaware of them as well.
After some discussion among commission members, city staff suggested the issue should be brought to the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization for further evaluation.
In other business, the commission also discussed a request to add a crosswalk at the intersection of Ventura Avenue and West Truman Boulevard, near Hy-Vee. The request was brought last month by Wayne Lee, a local disability advocate, after he fractured his pelvis this summer trying to cross Truman Boulevard in front of Hy-Vee.
Lee had said the nearest crosswalk is an extra two blocks down, which could be troublesome for elderly and disabled people, and he noted the signal allowing people to cross is often too short.
Tia Griffin, a design engineer with the city, said traffic counts conducted in October showed an average crossing gap of eight seconds or less at the intersection of Ventura Avenue and West Truman Boulevard, which is far too little for a safe cross walk.
"We don't recommend encouraging pedestrians to cross at this location," Griffin said.
Instead, Griffin said staff addressed the crosswalk timing brought up by Lee, finding that it was too short. Griffin said staff was able to add about seven seconds to the total walk time.