CLEARFIELD – Bicycle riders continue to be a concern for the Clearfield Borough Council.
Last month, the council discussed looking into options to keep bicyclists from using sections of the new riverwalk.
Police Chief Vince McGinnis said he had spoken to Solicitor F. Cortez Bell III. McGinnis said Bell feels the present ordinance regarding bicyclists on sidewalks should be sufficient to cover the problems on the riverwalk. However, McGinnis said he doesn’t think the existing ordinance is enough.
McGinnis said the existing ordinance allows individuals to ride bicycles on the sidewalks, as long as they are not endangering pedestrians. McGinnis said he would like to keep bicycles off the riverwalk altogether.
Borough Operations Manager Leslie Stott said there has been “tremendous problems” with bicycles on the riverwalk. However, Stott said the complaints have not been about people who are just riding on the riverwalk, the problems are with the people who are doing “trick riding” either on the walls or off the steps and the amphitheater.
“We have an area (the skate-park in the Clearfield Fairgrounds) specifically designed for this type of riding,” Stott said. She said the borough has been discussing ways to improve and expand the skate park.
Stott said earlier this week, a young boy fell off the wall and cut his head. Stott said the boy and his mother were standing on the wall to feed the ducks. Stott said the wall was not meant to be walked on. She said there is concern that someone will be walking on the wall or riding a bike on the wall when the river is high, which could be extremely dangerous.
McGinnis said he was concerned that if the officers began enforcing the ordinance for the riverwalk, then they would have to enforce it for all the sidewalks in the borough. He said there are areas in the borough where it is simply too dangerous for bicyclists to ride on the road.
When reading the existing ordinance, Stott said there was language which specified that bicyclists could ride on the sidewalks as long as they weren’t doing it in a manner that is endangering pedestrians.
However, with Bell not present at the meeting, it would be hard to know for sure. Stott said writing a new ordinance is a lengthy process and something needs to be done to protect the riverwalk as soon as possible.
“People need to respect our beautiful riverwalk. A lot of people use it, but we’re not getting the respect from everyone,” Stott said. She encouraged everyone to do their part to keep the riverwalk beautiful.