Meeting last night on Roswell Riverside Trail Extension

I was there last night. Instead of reinventing the wheel, here’s a couple of postings:

Meeting Notice from City of Roswell

Story by Roswell Patch 
“Environmental Impact of Extending Riverside Trail Concerns Residents”

My thought number one to the author: Find out if they all were Roswell residents. My thought number two:  Why make the issue seem scary and confrontational with the word “Concern” in the headline?. Thought number three: The vast majority of the article takes snippets of quotes from the opponents. Is this "We report, you decide" journalism?  

And another from Roswell area Blogger, Andrew Telker

The usual suspects were there. Missing were the soccer moms, little league coaches, K-12 kids, and single twenty and thirty somethings (well, maybe some were in their 30's.). We heard no new arguments from the traditional NIMBY opponents.  Let's try, shall we:


1. "I live on Azalea Drive and people walking by on the trail is going to disturb my peace" Huh? You live on a road that has thousands of motorized vehicles a day.


2. Crime. litter, high-speed bicycles coming around as I walk, parking, traffic, etc.  Huh? Roswell already has the trail. Go down and talk to your neighbors. 


One retired guy that was quoted in the top story  who said “Wildlife is just as important as bicyclists" was standing next to another retired guy who talked about saving the turtles. They stood next to each other during the meeting and left together. They live in East Cobb over by Columns Drive and have a big conspiracy theory going on thinking that all of north metro Atlanta's recreational bicycle traffic will eventually converge in their public road. These folks appear to be in their 70's and somehow FEAR families and children being outside enjoying themselves. They have attended ANY kind of public meeting about recreational trails -- Lower Roswell Rd in East Cobb, Morgan Falls Bridge, etc. Nearly 3 years ago they convinced the Cobb County Commission to pass an illegal statute to prohibit bicyclists from riding 2 abreast in Columns Drive which is provided for in GA code 40-6-294 (b):

Persons riding bicycles upon a roadway shall not ride more than two abreast except on paths or parts of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles.

Here's what these folks think here.

The document is reportedly signed by Larry Savage. Last year Savage ran unsuccessfully for Cobb County Commissioner against Tim Lee last year  http://larrysavageforcobbchairman.org/

Under his bio he quotes he was,”instrumental in resolving conflict between neighbors and bicyclists resulting in new rules for bicyclists.” on Columns Drive. Did he "resolve conflict"? Has the conflict been resolved, or are there still simmering tensions?

Be afraid. Do not underestimate these naysayers. These folks are out there. They have PLENTY of time on their hands, are well organized, come to meetings, have money and attorneys and will stop at nothing to prevent bicyclists from interfering in their 1950’s way of life.

You want to make a lasting impact and have your opinion heard? Bring the kids, skip an evening workout, club meeting or after work social and PLEASE come to these darn meetings.

Roswell is accepting email comments through March 18^th at: rrpd@roswellgov.com