Northeast - Westchester County Aims To Be 'Bike-Friendlier'

Westchester County Aims To Be 'Bike-Friendlier' (http://www.1010wins.com/Westchester-County-Aims-To-Be--Bike-Friendlier-/4163933)

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- Efforts are afoot to make Westchester County more welcoming to bicyclists and pedestrians.

The formation of a new group, the Westchester Biking & Walking Alliance, was announced Tuesday.

County Executive Andrew Spano says his administration encourages people to ride bicycles with such programs as "Be Fit Westchester.''

And he says the county wants to do more. Spano says it may be possible to add bicycle racks to Bee-Line buses.

What they need to do is get a connector from the end on the Bronx River Path at E233rd to the path in Tuchahoe/Bronxville to the Kensico Dam. The on street section in Scarsdale needs to be signed. Trail conditions in White Plains suck. The North & South County trails need work and the trail maps need to up updated

>>>>The on street section in Scarsdale needs to be signed.<<<<<

Before I comment, I just want to note that, when I rode the Bronx River Bikeway last year, an off-road by-pass of the Scarsdale section was already well underway. It certainly makes the ride safer, but I'm sure it's not making the Scarsdale merchants happy.

Second, coming from Long Island, where most of our bikeways and bike lanes lead absolutely nowhere (or just short of somewhere, i.e. Jones Beach), I have to say that Westchester County, to me, is a cyclist's paradise! I can't tell you how many weekends I spend up there each spring, summer, and fall riding that county's many great bikeways, trails, and waterside roads.

Of course, any step toward MORE bike-friendliness is always a positive step, in my book. But I find it a bit humorous that Westchester County - with its North & South County Trail, Bronx River Bikeway/Bike Sundays, and Old Croton Aquaduct Trail could be self-conscious about how it accommodates cyclists. Out here on Long Island, it can take a quarter of a century just to get a "Bike Route" sign replaced along a pot-holed, fifteen inch road shoulder that our county calls a Bike Lane!

The last time I rode down from Mass. through Scarsdale, if it wasn't for the RTC cue sheet I would have had a slight headache going through Scarsdale. Fortunatly I'm an ex-nyc/west. county resident. The trail maps haven't been updated for years. FYI, from Perlham Parkway EAST, you can ride off road paths to Orchard Beach/City Island

>>>>The last time I rode down from Mass. through Scarsdale, if it wasn't for the RTC cue sheet I would have had a slight headache going through Scarsdale.<<<<<

If you are referring to the section that connects Hartsdale to Scarsdale via Fox Meadow Road, there's a pretty decent description of the route on my site at www.geocities.com/nyrides . As far as the new section of the path being constructed parallel to the railroad tracks in Scarsdale, I can see where you'd get lost trying to find it once you've made it into downtown Scarsdale. I'm pretty sure the county was working on completing that section during the past year, though.

While we're on the subject, has anybody used Aqueduct/Pipeline Road as a connector between Hartsdale and the continuation of the bikeway in Scarsdale? It appears to be a pretty quiet road, with the exception of a speeding pickup truck whipping around its corners and sweeping pebbles off its shoulders every once in a while. That's the part that has scared me away from checking it out, so far.