Cycling enthusiasts will not have to re-route their paths around Picnic Point, thanks to Monday's vote by the UW-Madison Campus Natural Areas Committee not to ban bicycles from the west-campus natural area.
According to UW-Madison Professor Bill Cronon, who serves as chair of the committee, the members voted four to three against the ban and six to one in favor of more visible efforts to encourage those biking on Picnic Point's main gravel path to exercise more responsibility.
\The general tone [of the discussion] was 'how do we protect everybody's interests and be as inclusive as possible' given [Picnic Point] is such a small place and it's a delicate place and so many people want to go there,"" said Cathie Bruner, a UW-Madison administrative program manager with Facilities Planning and Management.
Cronon said the committee has been dealing with the issue of bicycles on Picnic Point since March, when the Bicycle-Pedestrian Subcommittee of the UW-Madison Campus Transportation Committee voted to ban them.
However, as that committee did not have jurisdiction over the path, they forwarded their recommendation to the Campus Natural Areas Committee.
Following an April 13 public meeting, Cronon said he asked committee members to prepare alternatives to the current Picnic Point bicycle policy.
""I asked every member of the committee to give me suggestions for what they would want included in a new policy that would either ban bicycles on Picnic Point or that would seek to regulate bicycle-pedestrian interactions so as to make them less conflictual,"" he said.
In a statement released following the votes, the committee said while individual members disagreed on whether or not to ban bicycles from Picnic Point, they did agree that everyone who uses the paths therein is responsible for helping protect the ""uniquely beautiful place and the special experiences it offers.""
""Bicyclists and walkers can coexist on Picnic Point only if they treat each other with mutual respect and deference,"" the statement read.
The committee also released a lengthy list of recommendations for regulating bicycles at Picnic Point, which includes a formal five-mile-per-hour speed limit and signage explicitly noting proper bicycle behavior.
Cronon did note that while bicycles will still be allowed at Picnic Point, the committee would seek a ban if riders did not abide by the recommended regulations.
""Like everyone on the committee, I'm concerned about people who feel unsafe because of bicyclists who travel 25 miles per hour on that path, which is absolutely inappropriate,"" he said.
