Op-Ed: New Mercer County Bike Map Looking for Comments

First I must say that this map is a great start with wonderful potential. It would be great to have maps such as these for every county in New Jersey.

However, the new Mercer County Bikeability Map, while an "OK" start leaves much to be desired. Too many (but no where near a majority) roadways that are relatively safe to ride on are considered "Unfavorable" while others that I would never ride on (and I'm a very bold and experienced rider) are given "Excellent" ratings. Unfortunately I have personally found this to be an all too common problem with many bicycle suitability maps pubilished for New Jersey counties.

Now admittedly, this is a work in progress with the DVRPC, who put this map together, looking for comments to improve the map. I hope New Jersey cyclists that are familiar with Mercer County's roadways go to town on this map and plaster it full of comments to improve it. It is definately a product that has potential and I support the DVRPC for putting it together.

Mercer County's Interactive Bike Map

As report by John and our friends at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia:

Last week the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission launched the Mercer County Regional Bike Map overlayed on a Google Map. This map is intended to be a resource for Mercer County residents and bicyclists to help them plan bicycle-friendly routes to ride, and also to help planners identify priority bicycle corridors and facilities to be considered in the future.

http://www.dvrpc.org/asp/bikemercer/

For the next month or so DVRPC and Mercer County would like your input on priority bicycle routes, and your opinions on the routes submitted by others, as well as any knowledge you have about the bikeability ratings shown here: are they too high, too low, or do they not reflect a specific local issue that you know about? Comments will help improve the bikeability scores shown on the site. Proposed routes and comments will be accepted until Friday, March 12th.