I just learned that Ottawa County will hold a meeting with the public to talk about the expansion of 48^th Avenue. It’s not surprising that this “outreach” (or whatever it is) to the public will be held in the summertime when students will be few on campus.

I’m going to be in attendance but I’m skeptical about this whole process. My view is that Ottawa County will have public session so that it can say that the public was consulted then go ahead and do whatever they wanted to do before. The county and township only want to increase throughput, commercial development, property values, and their tax base.

I ride my bike in regularly from Holland (from Grand Haven, when we lived there) and these days the most dangerous part of the ride is through Allendale. A road biker can’t ride on the sidewalk through Allendale and feel safe. It’s bumpy, crooked, and rocky. It’s simply not made for biking.

Cross traffic on the biker’s left from cars turning right and from the right from those entering the road makes biking on a side walk, or “bike path” as the engineers like to call them, very dangerous.

I’ve had drivers on M45 in Allendale tell me to “get the f**k off the road.” Once, I was able to catch the driver at the light at 68^th Avenue and explain to her that road bikers normally ride on the road. She was rather embarrassed to see me after having told me off in no uncertain terms. Road bikes are sturdily built and easily roll over 40 mph down hills. On the flat, I like to keep an average of 18 mph. I have biked in with an average of 21 mph. That’s fast! Ordinary bikers roll at 5-10 mph.

When we moved to Holland in 2004 from Grand Haven I tried a variety of routes to ride to GVSU. The safest was 36 miles long, although the shortest route is 24.5 miles. When 48^th Avenue was repaved with a biking shoulder several years ago I used that route from Chicago Drive. Before that, biking on 48^th Ave. was a death wish. Even so, it’s so busy it’s still dangerous with trucks and large pickups.

It’s not just a question of safe biking and other non-motorized transportation infrastructure. Motorists need to be educated and be held legally responsible for their actions. There should be a 3-foot law in Michigan with penalties for infractions. Motorists who kill (or injure) bicyclists should go to jail—not be let off without any punishment at all. It is a dangerous environment we bikers negotiate every day.

Making 48^th the same as Lake Michigan Drive through Allendale (4 lanes with curbs) will reduce non-motorized transportation and create a dangerous environment for local people and inter-city bike commuters like me. I advocate a 4-6 foot wide bike shoulder on both sides of the road. AND a sidewalk for walkers, joggers, parents with strollers, etc.

I’m looking for a solution that will help walkability and bikeability—NOT to create a high-speed blast corridor for cars and trucks where all others walk or bike at their peril.

Roy Cole
Bike commuter
Professor, Department of Geography and Planning