How About a Bicycle Path Built for Tulsa?
T
NE
By JOHN A. DRUMMOND
Tribune Associate Editor
[EW York City's ubiquitous
mayor, John Lindsay, is
scheduled to show up next Sunday in the predominantly Negro
Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood
in Brooklyn.
Not to discuss race relations
or inspect a housing project or
dedicate a school—Lindsay will
be in Bedford-Stuyvesant to take
a bicycle ride.
He and several hundred other
cyclists will help open the 14-
mile Brooklyn Bikeway, the
first of many bicycle routes to
be designated throughout New
York City. The Brooklyn t route
will follow "safe and scenic
streets" to Prospect Park, then
follow Ocean Parkway to Coney
Island. Streets designated as
bike routes will not be closed
to normal traffic, but 30 m.p.h.
speed limits will be enforced.
The bike route project, the
New York Times reported, "is
the latest in a series of programs the Lindsay administration has initiated to encourage
bicycle riding as a major form
of recreation in New York City.
Central Park has been closed to
automobiles on weekends since
the summer of 1966 and during
the summer and fall of 1967 it
was also closed on Tuesday
nights."
This new emphasis on bicycling isn't confined to New York
City. And Tulsa, too, may join
the bike parade.
The recent report describing
the proposed development of a
River Lakes Park system along
14 miles of the Arkansas River
through Tulsa says:
"A bicycle path begins east
of the marina (on the south
shore, opposite the town of Sand
Swings) in Shadow Bluff lake
aijj extends almost the entire
length of the southern shore of
the River Lakes Park system.
Picnic areas and shelters occur
PROPOSED BICYCLE AND WALKING PATH FOR TULSA'S RIVER LAKES PARK
at frequent intervals along the
path, permitting many starting
points and relaxation areas for
the cyclists. A similar path extends along most of the north
shore.
"The bicycle paths will provide safe, enjoyable and relatively inexpensive recreation opportunities for people of almost
any age. No vehicular traffic
will be allowed near the paths
and neighborhood access will be
provided by ramps in the under-
But this in-town bike route is
not the only one contemplated
for the Tulsa area. The Corps
of Engineers is proposing development of a system of trails
on both sides of the Verdigris
River for about 50 miles from
the vicinity of the Port of
Tulsa, near Catoosa, to the
mouth of the Verdigris, near
Muskogee. These trails will be
developed for both hiking and
bicycling.
The federal Bureau of Outdoor Recreation reports that bicycling is the fastest-growing
summertime recreation activity.
And the Bicycle Institute of
America says there are more
than 6,000 miles of marked bicycle routes now available. Some
follow streets in major cities,
as in the case of New York
City. Others are in scenic rural
areas. Some bike routes may
eventually cross entire states-
California plans a bicycle path
from San Diego to the Oregon
border.
Development has been slower
in the Southwest. But Austin,
Tex., is planning to ask the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation for
half the cost of a $224,000 project to develop a five-mile bicycle path along the banks of
Town Lake. This should be of
particular interest in Tulsa, because Town Lake is created by
a low-water dam on the Colorado River, comparable to the
three dams proposed as part of
Tulsa's River Lakes Park development.
The upsurge in bicycling as a
recreation activity for adults as
well as children has paralleled
the increased interest in physi
cal fitness. Time magazine re- N
cently cited former President -~
Eisenhower's 1955 heart attack K
ss triggering "this national im- >
pulse to perspire for the sake of V
health."
And, Time noted, "Eisenhower's heart specialist, Paul Dudley White, seized his moment of
national prominence to lecture
the public repeatedly on its deplorable shape, suggesting that
the tone of the body has much
to do with the pace of the mind.
'"The better the legs,' said
White, still bicycling today at
81, 'the clearer the brain.' "
The most serious deterrent to
more bicycling in cities such as
Tulsa is the obvious conflict
with auto traffic. What good
does it do to tone up your body
if it's to be broken up in a
collision with a car?
Tulsa's city traffic engineer,
Harold Miller, admits he gets
squeamish at the suggestion of
mixing auto and bicycle traffic.
Thus he is rather cool to proposals for designating bike
routes on city streets, as in
New York.
Miller notes that all section-
line streets in Tulsa are major
traffic arteries, and be doubts
that any type signs or signals
would make them safe for bicyclists to cross.
But this isn't the only alternative. Mohawk Park, for example, could provide an ideal
setting for development of scenic
bicycle paths. And the fact that
the River Lakes Park plan calls
for a 50-year development pro*
gram shouldn't mean that we
have to wait that long for a
good bicycle path—it shouldn't
have to wait until the dams are
built.
If there is enough interest on
the part of Tulsans, a bike path
between the river and Riverside
Drive could be one of the first
stages of development in River
Lakes Park.
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