Unsafe Roads Frustrate Cyclists

By JAMIE PILARCZYK, The Tampa Tribune

Conditions Frustrate Cyclist

A bike shop owner joins a group to advocate for riders.

PALMA CEIA - Fran Kane is fed up with Tampa's cycling environment.

The owner of Flying Fish Bikes blames unenforced laws for leading to unaware motorists and hazardous conditions. He said each of his store's 10 staff members, including him, has been hit while biking.

'People get hit all the time,' said Kane, who renamed Dud Thames Bike Shop on South MacDill Avenue after taking it over last year. 'I hear it every day. People are afraid to ride.'

Kane rides his bike about two miles to work every day. For exercise, he rides between his home near Bayshore and Gandy boulevards and Davis Islands. He said the only bike lane is along northbound Bayshore.

Turning his frustration into action, Kane has joined the South West Florida Bicycle United Dealers, a nonprofit advocacy group composed of seven shops in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties. The other shops are Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium, Oliver's Cycle Sports, Revolution Bicycles, Chainwheel Drive, Bicycle Outfitters and Suncoast Trailside Bicycles.

'Our mission is to try and improve bicycling conditions in Tampa Bay and to really plant the seed of bicycling interest in the community,' said coordinator Alan Snel of Seminole Heights, a former Tampa Tribune reporter.

Snel said he has requested the city designate bike lanes on Platt Street and Armenia Avenue to help cyclists commute downtown. He said he hasn't heard from the city.

Snel said the group is hosting a Bicycle Bash by the Bay on Nov. 4.. Last year's event drew more than 1,000 people to the St. Pete Times Forum. This year's event will be held at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg, a city cycling enthusiasts say gets it right.

'Tampa doesn't have to look far,' Snel said. 'Just look across the bay.'

Gena Torres, senior planner and bicycle/pedestrian coordinator for Hillsborough's Metropolitan Planning Organization, cited several improvements for cyclists.

When Jackson and Tampa streets were resurfaced, a bike lane was added. Widening projects on 40th Street and Manhattan Avenue added bike lanes, and a project on Nebraska Avenue, from Kennedy Boulevard to Hillsborough Avenue, will cut the four lanes to two and add a center turn lane and bike lanes.

'Little things are being done here and there,' Torres said.

Torres said the city's South Tampa Greenway will link the Friendship TrailBridge, Bayshore, MacDill Air Force Base and Picnic Island, but money and other issues have slowed progress. Most of the 18.4-mile trail is slated to be in place by 2009.

Kane questions spending money on trolleys and tourist areas when a fraction of it could go to improving Bayshore, 'the gem of Tampa.'

'We can take what we know we already have and put some money back into it,' he said. 'If we just make Tampa a more urban-friendly center, people will want to be here.'