WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | 150 cyclists bike to raise awareness for safer roads

150 cyclists bike to raise awareness for safer roads

By Justin Burrows - email

SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - For 150 cyclists, there wasn't a finish line to race to, but there was a goal in mind.

On Sunday, the Savannah Bicycle Campaign held the 22 mile Tybee to Savannah Trailblazer's Ride to raise money and awareness for bike safety and to create safer roads for cyclists between the two cities.

"I love to ride out to Tybee and back and it's very dangerous right now. I only do that on Sunday mornings and wouldn't recommend it for someone who isn't an experienced rider," said Savannah cyclist Shannon James.

"This is the first time that I've ever rode from Tybee to Savannah, and I was happy to be able to do it, but I wouldn't have done it with out a police escort," said Tybee Island city councilman Paul Wolff.

Many of the riders say that the road to Tybee Island is dangerous and that they face more hazards on the roadways than just cars.

"There's just no place for you to ride. There's no space, you can't do it safely and not only that, there's rumble strips on the side off the bridges that make it dangerous for cyclists and I know that those are for safety but there is a way to do both," said Tybee Island mayor Jason Buelterman.

"Bridge access is very poor if you're on a bike or walking, especially the Bow River Bridge and the Lazaretto Creek Bridge, between those two bridges you have 55mph speed limits with rumble strips filling the shoulder, so anybody on a bike would have to be out in the traffic lane," said Drew Wade, chairman of the Savannah Bicycle Campaign.

According to Wade, safer access for cyclists would benefit not only the riders, but also tourism for the area.

"If you're trying to get those two and a half days to become three and a half days, you add something like this where people could hop on a trail and ride their bike out to the beach. I think it would be a destination in itself," said Wade.

"It is just so logical. I mean it makes sense in terms of tourism, tourists do come to places they can bike safely, especially on a road like that. One that's so naturally beautiful," said Buelterman.

And Buelterman says they will continue to move forward, until they reach their goal.

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