NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kay Harrison, who lives at 100 West 17th, came to speak to the Hutchinson City Council at their public input session on Tuesday about the bike boulevard on Washington and people using it, maybe in ways not intended by the designers.
"They are from age, maybe eight, on up," Harrison said. "I don't think they know. They don't respect any stop signs. Our corner, I bet there is 90 to 95% just zoom across 17th. There was an old fella that I saw going down with a three wheeler and pulling a cart on the sidewalk. He turned off of the sidewalk on to Washington going north. He put up his hand to stop the traffic. Luckily, the guy coming from Main Street was going slow enough and he did stop."
The traditional bicyclist is not who Harrison sees, most of the time.
"To me, a bicycle is a two wheel bicycle and you pedal," Harrison said. "Very few of those come by. They are all motorized now. They do the battery motors on scooters, on skateboards and on bicycles of all sizes. No regard to any direction. They are all over the place."
The incident that prompted Harrison to come to the council happened when she was driving.
"I almost hit a girl, which really was the limit," Harrison said. "I was going south on Washington from 25th and all of a sudden this girl, I'm guessing around 12, was on a motorized, small...she was actually too big for it and she did not respect the stop sign on the side street. Thank heavens I wasn't a minute sooner or I wasn't going fast. It scared me to death. She never once realized. She just zoomed right past that stop sign right in front of me. This is happening way too many times. The same thing on 17th on that ridiculous roadblock. Someone is going to get killed."
There's not a lot the city can do except try to raise awareness, according to Mayor Jon Richardson.
"I don't know how we would...other than a public service campaign in regards to making sure people know, no matter what age or vehicle, there are rules of the road that you have to follow and abide by," Richardson said. "We do have a little bit of a different situation now that these bicycles are motorized. Maybe people don't realize that even bicycles need to follow the rules of the road, let alone a motorized bicycle."
Richardson notes that the 17th and Washington island is a regular subject that he hears from constituents about a lot, but he's not sure what the implications would be of taking it out at this point.
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