A committee created by the City of Madison Pedestrian/Bicycle/Motor Vehicle Commission met for the first time Monday to discuss the issue of bicyclists illegally riding on sidewalks throughout the city.
Various Madison citizens make up the committee, which aims to find ways to curb the presence of bicyclists riding on the city’s sidewalks by educating the public about the somewhat complex ordinances regarding sidewalk biking.
Police said it is illegal to ride along Madison’s sidewalks for safety reasons, but many people still do, especially on Johnson Street.
According to committee member Robbie Webber, it is illegal to bike on the sidewalk where the building immediately abuts the sidewalk.
Another idea to educate city cyclists committee members discussed is to have bike shops hand out informational fliers alerting people to the law and to implement increased signage to tell people where they can and cannot ride on the sidewalk.
But according to [group member] Rebecca Kinner, “The mayor’s pretty clear … he doesn’t wanna see more signs.”
The workgroup addressed how the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s help is potentially needed to educate students about bicycle laws.
“There is no question that the UW [area] has issues,” Webber said.
There were, however, no representatives from the university at the meeting Monday, although they will be invited to future meetings.
The possibility of increased police enforcement of bicycle laws was also discussed, but members focused on educating bicyclists about the law instead of punishing them.
The committee will hold more meetings in the future, on a date yet to be decided, to further discuss ways to educate city cyclists.
