Pictured: The intersection of 100 North and 200 West, the proposed ending of the bike lanes which may be added to 100 North during the summer.
Ideas flew through Price’s City Council chambers Tuesday evening as the proposed addition of bike lanes to one of the city’s busiest streets took center stage at a city council meeting, resulting in a counter-proposal that would take the lanes in a new direction.
The proposal, which was written into the 2013 Price City Parks and Recreation Master Plan, would add both north and south bicycle lanes to 100 North from the US-6 off-ramp to 300 East. If approved, the addition would take place this summer while the Utah Department of Transportation resurfaces the same stretch of road.
Before the meeting, a workshop was hosted where community members and local business owners were able to voice their concern over the proposal.
One of the main arguments against the proposal is that the addition of the lanes would remove any on-street parking currently located on 100 North.
“We have a lot of people who are low income who rely on bikes for their transportation,” councilmember Terry Willis said at the meeting, bringing to attention that those who would use the lanes are not just bicycle enthusiasts. “There’s an entire community that’s effected as well.”
Councilmember Rick Davis explained his view of the matter as both a want and a need, a need from businesses to have the jeopardized parking and the want of having an addition that fits with the slogan of Price being a progressive and friendly town.
After further discussion, the option was raised over rejecting the proposal and to ask Price City Engineer Russell Seely to offer a counter-proposal to UDOT to add the lanes from the off-ramp to 200 West. The idea was also mentioned at the meeting of extending the proposed lanes from 200 West south to a different road in Price.
Price City Public Works Director Miles Nelson expressed concern over placing lanes on 200 West as the street is already too narrow for bicycle lanes.
After deliberation, councilmember Wayne Clausing moved to reject the proposal of placing lanes from the off-ramp to 300 East and to have Seeley counter-propose to the department to place lanes from the ramp to 200 west.
The motion was seconded by Davis and passed with a 2-1 vote by those in attendance.