ANDREA HOPKINS: For More Walkable City, Start With Sidewalks, Driver Attitudes

With gas inching toward $4 a gallon, the timing is right for Bristol Tennessee’s push to extend a network of bicycle and walking paths across the city.
But why stop there? If city leaders are sincere in their desire to embrace a less auto-centric future, they need to take a look at the aging, incomplete sidewalk system. They also must take aggressive steps to reduce speeding in residential areas (or anywhere that pedestrians flock) and to encourage motorists to be courteous to those on foot.
As it stands now, Bristol is too often a hostile place for walkers, runners and cyclists alike. Its drivers need a crash course in courtesy.
I SPEAK from experience. While running and walking, I’ve had some close calls with motorists who weren’t paying attention. Jumping out of the path of an oncoming car isn’t the sort of excitement that most of us crave. A neighbor had a similar hairy experience while riding her bike to the grocery store; she was almost hit even though she was in a clearly marked bicycle lane.
The most committed walkers and cyclists tend to overlook these sorts of experiences and press on with their routines. But these close encounters might discourage others.
A better sidewalk system would eliminate some of the motorist-pedestrian run-ins. But even many of the older neighborhoods in town aren’t entirely connected by sidewalks. In my neighborhood, the sidewalk ends more than half a mile from my home. This forces pedestrians to walk in the street or tromp across the lawns of their neighbors in order to reach the relative safety of the sidewalk.
WHERE THEY exist, the city’s sidewalks aren’t always in good repair. Uneven segments of concrete and holes can pose a tripping hazard, and they are hard to navigate for the elderly, the disabled or those pushing baby strollers.
In areas without sidewalks, pedestrians would have a safer time of it if motorists would follow the rules. They don’t.
My street is filled with motorists who don’t live in the neighborhood but who cut through it to avoid traffic on Volunteer Parkway. A majority exceed the posted 25-mph speed limit; some exceed it greatly.
PERIODICALLY, POLICE take a stab at the problem, parking a radar-equipped “speed” trailer on the street. The trailer measures and displays the speed of oncoming traffic.
After the trailer appears, motorists slow down for a while, but the effect doesn’t last. Likewise, extra police patrols provide some benefit, but it seems to be a transitory one.
A better solution would be to install some type of permanent traffic-calming device. Speed bumps? Traffic circles? More stop signs? (I don’t have the answer, but it seems likely that the city’s traffic engineer, David Metzger, could come up with one.) If these measures discouraged folks from using a residential street to bypass the Volunteer Parkway, it would be even better.
OF COURSE, extending sidewalks to the end of the street wouldn’t just improve safety. It would give neighborhood residents, including those living on the many side streets, a clear path to walk to the downtown shopping district. (It really isn’t all that far.)
And that’s just one neighborhood. It seems likely that similar improvements are needed in other neighborhoods, as well, to make Bristol a truly walkable community.
Not all of the changes require City Council action. If those who drive through the city would simply be mindful of pedestrians and cyclists, safety would improve immediately. This requires no investment of money; motorists merely need to focus on their surroundings and be alert.
RETURNING TO the bike path plan, it sounds like a winner. City leaders have decided to connect existing paths and add about 10 miles of paths to the system.
Importantly, the paths would connect key destinations around town – giving people a reason to use them, beyond merely getting some much needed exercise. As envisioned, the paths would connect the city’s eight public schools, Tri-Cities Christian School, King College, ETSU at Bristol and the National College campus. Many other destinations lie between these points.
Further down the road, the city envisions a trail network that connects shopping centers, workplaces and neighborhoods. One day, it might be possible to conduct much of life’s daily business without setting foot in a car. The benefits are multiple – better health, less dependence on pricey oil from hostile countries and cleaner air.
With Volunteer Parkway at its core, Bristol remains an auto-centric city, but leaders have glimpsed a different future. City residents should encourage their leaders to continue walking this path.

Andrea Hopkins is opinion editor of the Bristol Herald Courier. She may be reached at or (276) 645-2534.