The Texas Department of Transportation wants to hear from people who bike, or would like to, along state highways in Grayson County and eight neighboring counties.
TxDOT's Paris District opened an online survey on Tuesday, Oct. 13, for its draft district bicycle plan, and it will take comments through Friday, Nov. 6. The district takes in Red River, Lamar, Delta, Hopkins, Franklin, Rains, Hunt, Fannin and Grayson counties. KTEN reported on the survey Wednesday.
The plan looks only at roads the state owns and operates, not city streets or county roads.
Three maps to review
The survey is built around an interactive map with three sets of draft recommendations:
- Bikeway functions. Each state road segment is assigned a role. "All ages" routes are those within a mile of places such as schools, senior centers and recreation centers, where TxDOT says bikeways should separate riders from traffic. "Daily travel" routes run through busy areas with frequent short trips. "Long distance" routes serve recreational riders and bicycle tourism, and "basic" routes are where only occasional riding is expected.
- Bicycle tourism trails. Proposed changes to the routes in TxDOT's 2018 Bicycle Tourism Trails Study, including new and realigned segments.
- Priorities. A small set of segments is ranked highest priority, meaning TxDOT would put them first for design work and funding. A second tier is marked for proactive improvement but may be harder to fix because of limited space or terrain. On most state roads, bicycle needs would be handled as part of other work such as repaving or signal upgrades.
Users can click a highlighted segment, say whether they agree with its recommendation and leave comments. The survey page says it works best on a computer; on a phone, it suggests turning the screen sideways.
