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Petition asks Decatur to stop construction of bike path on Commerce Drive

Crime and public safety Decatur slideshow

Petition asks Decatur to stop construction of bike path on Commerce Drive

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A map showing the proposed Commerce Drive cycle track. Source: City of Decatur

At its March 20 meeting, the Decatur City Commission approved an agreement with the PATH foundation to build a cycle track on Commerce Drive.

The city plans to build a two-way cycle track with a landscape buffer along the road. But a new petition says the impact of the project will infringe too much on drivers who depend on Commerce Drive.

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Ria Sweeney started the petition and told Decaturish, “While many of us do not object to protected bike lanes, the bike lane proposed on Commerce Drive is unacceptable.”

The petition says:

Commerce Drive has been consistently pushed as the route one should use to go around the city when driving motor vehicles. Last year, Decatur allowed a new apartment building to take away a lane of Commerce Avenue by building right on top of the lane, thus decreasing vehicular access already.

Now, the city officials want to remove another lane to allow a built out protected bike path. This will crush the already overwhelming traffic on Commerce. Additionally, it will cause severe safety issues by forcing vehicles to cut through neighborhoods and through downtown Decatur. That is unacceptable because Commerce Avenue was purported to be used to avoid that.

To see the petition, click here.

This is not the first petition to be circulated regarding a bike path on Commerce Drive. Back in 2015, cycling advocates circulated petition asking the city to work harder to separate bike and vehicular traffic along the road.


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