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SALT LAKE CITY -- Drive up Emigration Canyon, and you will most likely pass quite a few cyclists who are not riding in the bike lane.
"Cars are coming down the hill, and they say, 'Well, look at that cyclist. Why isn't he in the bike lane that I paid for with my taxes?' Well, because you might break your neck," says cyclist Rick Alvarez, of Salt Lake City.
On Memorial Day, Alvarez hit a rough patch of asphalt and crashed. He broke his neck in the accident.
Related:
Sunday Edition: Sharing the road, Need for summer break
In this Sunday Edition, KSL's Keith McCord discusses the dangers when bicycles and cars share the road with the chairman of the Salt Lake County Bicycle Advisory Committee, and the bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for the Salt Lake City Div. of Transportation."Responsibility for my safety is mine alone, and I don't blame anybody for my accident except myself; and I know to stay out of the bike lane," Alvarez says.
He was not the only one with a safety complaint.
Salt Lake County Public Works operations director Kevyn Smeltzer says safety complaints have increased this summer after a chip-seal surface treatment was put down to prevent potholes.
"I think when the county goes up there, the guys that do the roads are most concerned with cars," Alvarez says.
But Smeltzer says when the road construction began, his office asked people to avoid riding in the canyon for two weeks. He says people either didn't see the warning or ignored it.
In the past, Smeltzer says his office has gotten safety complaints from cyclists about once a month.
According to Salt Lake County Bicycle Advisory Committee chairman Chad Mullins, some of the safety issues are because of the canyon environment. He cites rocks and other debris that come down the hillside and onto the roadway because of erosion.
Street sweepers now come through the canyon once a month to improve safety; and it would be difficult to sweep more often than that, Smeltzer says. Up until two summers ago, sweepers came through the canyon only two or three times a year.
Alvarez says monthly sweepings are not enough and suggests a professional study is needed.
"The bike lane should be the safest spot for cyclists and it's not," he says.
To view KSL's Sunday Edition discussion on bicycle safety in the canyon, CLICK HERE.
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Story compiled with contributions from Candice Madsen and The Associated Press.
