Nashville parks enforce bicycle speed limit as walkers, cyclists clash

By Jenny Upchurch • THE TENNESSEAN • August 30, 2009

A clash between "Tour de France wannabes" and "iPod-deaf roadblocks" has park police warning cyclists to slow down and walkers to stay in the slow lane on Nashville's greenways.
Park police trained radar guns on cyclists on three greenways Saturday.
They weren't there to write speeding tickets, says Capt. Rich Foley, park police commander.
The aim is to teach riders about the new 15 mph speed limit on the walk/bike paths and encourage riders and walkers to share the space.
Conflicts between cyclists and pedestrians are a big issue and seem to be on the rise, Foley said, in particular on the Shelby Bottoms trail but also on Stones River and Richland Creek greenways.
"Definitely there have been injuries, definitely there have been crashes between pedestrians and cyclists," he said.
An ambulance crew treated a 22-year-old man injured in a crash with another rider Aug. 22 on the Shelby greenway, according to Nashville Fire Department records. He was about a mile in on the trail and was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Reports of the accident ignited a fierce discussion on the East Nashville listserv, with some posters castigating cyclists as Tour de France wannabes and others lambasting pedestrians as iPod-deaf roadblocks.
Lee Pampacos Putt bikes on the Shelby greenway once or twice a week between her East Nashville home and Gaylord workplace.
"Pedestrians definitely don't like cyclists. And as a cyclist, you do want to go more than 15 mph," she said, adding that she rides slower when more people are on the path.
"It is dangerous sharing with pedestrians and dogs. I don't see it as a huge problem if everyone respected everyone."
Shelby and Two Rivers parks were connected with a pedestrian bridge over the Cumberland last year, linking almost 20 miles of paved trails. That has more cyclists on the trails and more using them for group rides, Putt thinks.
"It's the perfect place to train, in some sense, because you don't have stop signs or signals. You have the luxury of you don't have to brake. But, again, it is not the greatest place to do it with the pedestrians."

15 mph limit set
Even if they are slow, a group of cyclists will intimidate pedestrians as they ride by, she said.
"I'll yell out, 'On your left,' and do it early so people have time to react, so they don't feel like they're being pushed off the path."
There wasn't a speed limit when greenways first opened, Foley said, only a directive to use reasonable speed. It was decided this year to set a 15 mph limit.
The 15 mph limit will be posted at each greenway entrance. The signs also will warn users to stay to the right and that it is a two-way trail. They are being paid for by the private Greenways for Nashville group.
Volunteers also will place a center stripe on the Richland Creek greenway to give a visual clue that pedestrians and cyclists need to stay on the right-hand half of a trail. The first 25 feet of each entrance and blind curves will be striped. Other greenways may follow. Speeding tickets rare
Officers on ATVs have used radar guns on greenways before Saturday's blitz, which was to begin at Shelby in the morning and then go on to Richland and Stones River.
"If someone is going over the speed limit, the officer will give them a warning," Foley said.
A citation would have to be for disorderly conduct rather than a speeding ticket. That would be rarer than rare, he said.
"If you say, 'Hey, the speed limit is 15' and they do the next lap and they do 25, maybe."
Foley said the problems seem to be caused by just a few cyclists, but doesn't point to bike riders as always at fault.
"All users have to be responsible. The greenway is for both walkers and cyclists, and there are rules walkers need to follow," he said. That includes keeping dogs on a leash and supervising children. It also means not spreading across a path and not having earbuds or headphones turned up so loud you can't hear a cyclist coming up behind.
"A little bit on each side is to blame."