I want to take a small diversion with what I see the big, practical purpose of this blog as a document of our adoption of our son from China. If you know me, you know I’m an avid biker because I commute to work regularly. As of tonight, it’s now illegal to ride on the sidewalks of downtown Normal (punishable by a $50 fine). Here’s the problems:

This stretch of ‘the trail’ (constitution trail goes down the middle of Bloomington-Normal) is around a round about where people, runners and bikers all compete for the same space. During the meeting tonight, it was mentioned that bikers would not be subject to the ordinance here but yet it goes directly in front of the children’s discovery museum where there is a good amount of foot traffic.

Here is the town’s attempt at fixing that very issue. It’s a bike ‘lane’ (the only one I’ve found in Normal) that is blocked off by a construction site. Rather than going off road, the assumed path of the trail is now back to in front of the Children’s museum. The issue I have with this is that they (the council) totally ignored the Amtrak station 20 feet to the south of the museum in their discussion tonight.

It was also mentioned that there would not be a permanent cop assigned to enforcing these rules but yet there is a stationed officer at the round about who will definitely be enforcing it.

There is a wonderfully urban water feature in the middle of the roundabout that attracts people to walk in and around it and now it’s been discouraged a little further with this ordinance.

It angers me that the road to the north of downtown normal is College Ave where street riding is impractical because of poor drivers who are oblivious to bike riders and now it’s illegal to ride on that sidewalk too.

I’m the first to choose a street (I’d rather not run over or around people), but there are moments where a sidewalk makes more sense when streets are unsafe or when it’s on a supposed trail where bikers are ‘welcome’.

What angers me further is that bikers were courted a while ago to help plan bike lanes and making Normal a friendlier biker town. We seemed to have the political will to force a 4 star hotel next to a state University and plan a downtown that isn’t friendly to college students but yet lost the will to equip our ‘bike friendly’ town with bike lanes. I feel a little dispossessed, if you will because that will be the last time I willingly waste a valuable evening giving my opinion to politicians who could care less and it will also be the last time I bother with voting in an incumbent into a city council or mayoral slot.