Location: Lawrence

Should the De Soto Bicycle Ban Be Lifted? Vote!

De Soto Bicycle BanFor a number of years, the community of De Soto, Kansas has banned bicycles from 83rd Street in their town, citing safety issues on a two-lane road with no shoulders.

Last week, the city council in De Soto took another look at the bicycle ban, and decided to keep it in place:

The ban on bicycling on 83rd Street in De Soto, Kansas, was put in place by the city council several years ago.

About one year ago, the city council reconsidered the ban and decided to wait until a current construction project was complete before removing the ban.

Despite the promises to remove the ban when the construction was complete, last December, when the construction project was complete, the city reconsidered and decided to retain the ban.

Now the issue has come up again on the DeSoto City Council agenda for July 15th, 2010.

A committee recommendation was to lower the speed limit on 83rd Street so that it meets current engineering recommendations and simultaneously remove the bicycle ban. The recommendation was to enforce single file riding only for bicyclists.

The City Council decided to reject these recommendations and leave both the bicycle ban on 83rd Street and the current speed limit in place. The vote against changing the speed limit was 3-2. [read more from MoBikeFed]

De Soto Bicycle Ban PollFollowing the city council decision, the De Soto Explorer newspaper ran an online poll that asked readers to weigh in on the issue: “Would you like to see the bike-ban on 83rd street lifted?”

Over several days, and 175 votes, the tally came to:

  • 74% favored lifting the ban
  • 17% wanted to keep the ban in place
  • 9% weren’t sure

Gee, sounds like the people have spoken loud and clear. Is the city council paying attention?

Through the wonders of the web, you can now vote on the issue right here:

What do you think?

OK, so I suspect I know that you think. So vote, already!

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About The Author

By Randy Rasa, editor/webmaster at Kansas Cyclist, the web's premier Kansas cycling information site, featuring authoritative guides to Kansas cycling clubs, bike shops, organized bike rides, touring, trails, and much more. [learn more]

3 responses to “Should the De Soto Bicycle Ban Be Lifted? Vote!”

  1. TuacaTom says:

    How about banning all motorized vehicles on 83rd Street on certain days, like Saturday and/or Sunday? Maybe we can start building bike and pedestrian safe roads in all of our cummunities. Not an original idea because it happens elsewhere in the civilized world. It’s about time to start doing it on a regular basis in this country.

  2. Captain Jake says:

    The road is a hazardous route for cycling and we’ve all found ways to avoid it…however, as that area is gettin better (cycling-wise) with development it would be nice to have that way as an artery. With the interaction of DeSoto with Mill Valley and growth in the area it is absurd that it isn’t a priority to upgrade that road for both car and cycling traffic. The route is used by inexperienced drivers which compounds the problem…more reason to make it a safer route. Where is this on the on the county/state priority list?

  3. Sam says:

    You know you can vote all you want on this but who are the people voting? fellow cyclists who visit this site, who should be voting? the citizens of De Soto. That is who voted the city council and the city mayor into office. So why should they be concerned with anyone but the citizens of their city? So go ahead and vote and say what you think but the citizens should and will have the final say on this matter.