The Anchorage Parks and Recreation folks need to take a long look at the dangerous conditions on Anchorage trails, particularly the paved bike trails. I am a somewhat elderly citizen of Anchorage, have lived here over 50 years, and am a regular walker on Anchorage trails, especially during the summer and fall months. For many years, I was threatened by bicyclists from behind riding too fast and in large groups. Those who did warn with an “on your left” as they passed often did so with a volume well below my hearing range. Many remained silent and zipped past at a dangerously high speed with no warning. This is the explanation for the worn “walking path” on both sides of many of the bike trails — walkers trying to avoid the speeding cyclists.
That was the situation until 2-3 years ago, before the invasion of the electric bikes, the e-bikes. Today, if the elderly or someone with small children chooses to walk on the Tony Knowles trail in the summer or early fall, it has become an extremely dangerous undertaking. This is especially true on a sunny weekend anywhere near Westchester Lagoon, Point Woronzof or Kincaid Park. The e-bikes zoom along regularly at 10-25 mph, often in groups of four to 12, one behind the other. I have many times seen, usually around Westchester Lagoon, parents with kids learning to walk, learning to ride bikes or tricycles, or on the little walk-ride bikes. It’s a terrifying sight, particularly at the many narrow sections of the bike trail. If serious accidents haven’t already occurred, they will. Some new regulations need to be adopted, or at least the current ones enforced. Currently, motorized vehicles are prohibited on the bike trails. An electric motor is still a motor, isn’t it?
The problem is politically difficult because hotels and rental facilities all over Anchorage rent these e-bikes to their customers. The bike trails are well known to tourists before they arrive, as are the favorite routes for the e-bike users. I have been several times asked by bikers for directions how to get “back downtown.”
So come on, Parks and Recreation folks — fix this dangerous situation before next summer.
— Tom Nelson
Anchorage
Have something on your mind? Send to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Letters under 200 words have the best chance of being published. Writers should disclose any personal or professional connections with the subjects of their letters. Letters are edited for accuracy, clarity and length.