At Tuesday night’s Laurens County Council meeting, bicycles were the first item on the agenda. Mr. Donald Walker of the Laurens County Trails Association presented to council a map of the proposed designated bicycle route through Laurens County and a resolution in support of and to promote the extension and creation of designated bicycle routes within Laurens County.
Mr Walker said this came about after rumble strips were installed on the sides of A.B. Jacks road and he was approached by bicyclist concerning the hazard these strips present to bicyclists. He explained to council that is the county designates roads as bike roads, accommodations are made by the Department of Transportation for bicyclists. Both Donald Walker and Public Works Director Rob Russian fielded questions from council members about the resolution. Councilman Tollison asked Mr. Walker about the safety of not having rumble strips to accommodate bikers. Walker explained the difference in continuous strips, skip strips and strips offset further to the side of the paved surface. Tollison the commended Walker for his work on the project. Councilman Nash asked about purchasing extra right of way for bikes and was assured only the current right of way was part of the plan. Nash then asked about liability injured bicyclists. Mr Walker said the designation would have no effect on the law. Councilman Jones asked if the project required any additional funding and was told no, that it was just a designation for the purpose of DOT accommodating bikers. Councilwoman Anderson asked if this would include any bike specific lanes and Mr. Walker said that the roads would remain the same with no additional lanes for bikes. The resolution passed 6-0 with no opposition.