KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) -- Kalamazoo city commissioners have accepted on first reading an ordinance that would require drivers to give cyclists a three-foot buffer on city streets.
On Monday night, a parade of cyclists and local club riders appeared to claim that five feet was the standard used by other communities, asking for a change in the proposal. But City Attorney Clyde Robinson found that over two-dozen states require three feet. Only two require a five-foot separation, and only in high speed situations.
He said the city engineer feels more than three feet would force drivers to swerve over into oncoming traffic to get by and three feet is also what a national biking organization recommends.
It will be up to commissioners to decide what to do with the proposal at their first meeting in September.
Cyclists had one big reason to celebrate after last night's Kalamazoo City Commission meeting: A $1 million plan to build a key stretch of the city's trail-way system through the downtown was approved.
It will link the Kalamazoo River Valley trail and the Kal-Haven trail and eventually they hope will link up with trail-ways in Portage and Battle Creek.
Jerry Albertson, President of the Parks Foundation, said they are putting up nearly $750,000 to fund the construction of the new trail.
