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Brian Russoniello and his wife were bicycling around Harveys Lake last fall when a motorist came up behind them.
The couple stuck to the right shoulder as much as possible, and nobody was coming the other way, giving the motorist ample opportunity to safely cross the center line and pass them while leaving a 4-foot buffer as required by a state law implemented in 2012, Russoniello said.
Instead, the motorist lingered, almost touching them, and laid on his horn. He narrowly missed them as he eventually passed and abruptly cut in front of them, screaming at them in the process.
Similar situations have convinced Russoniello that some drivers are still unaware — or unwilling to accept — bicycles are permitted on roadways and must be provided an ample safety cushion when vehicles pass.
“Bicyclists have every bit as much right to be on the road as a car does, and I’m just asking for a little bit of common courtesy,” Russoniello said.
Common occurrence
Their brushes with motorists are not uncommon in Luzerne County.
County Flood Protection Authority Executive Director Christopher Belleman said he dodged a bottle a motorist threw at him during his short ride on the public roads of his Kingston neighborhood as he was heading to the recreational path atop the Wyoming Valley Levee.
Belleman said he’s considering participating in one of the group rides coordinated by some bike shops but isn’t comfortable riding solo on public roads.
“I’m kind of leery of highways. I’m concerned about getting hit,” he said.
County Councilman Rick Williams, an avid bicyclist who has been pushing for more paths along area roadways for bikers and pedestrians, said he’s encountered some motorists who appear to be “offended” by bicyclists.
“Some people feel the roads are intended just for motorized vehicles, and that’s not the case,” Williams said.
Tom Jones and Richard Adams, co-owners of Around Town Bicycles in Wilkes-Barre, said they have come to expect hostility when they hit the streets.
“We get yelled at and cursed out constantly. The most frequent thing we hear is to get off the road,” Adams said.
Hazards, obstructions
Getting off the roadway is easier said than done, avid bicyclists say.
If there are sidewalks, pedestrians have the right of way. State law says bicyclists should not use sidewalks in business districts unless there are signs expressly permitting bikes.
The shoulders of some roadways have a sharp drop off or contain hazards, others say.
Russoniello’s wife, Alesia, said she can’t ride on some stretches of the berm at Harveys Lake due to slippery cinders, protruding branches, mailboxes and other obstacles.
Fairmount Township resident Mike Giamber, who regularly cycles around the lake and some rural areas of the county, showed pictures of sunken grates in the shoulder and road-hugging guard rails that force him to stay on the road.
“We just don’t have a bike-friendly community,” Giamber said.
Williams said he’s trying to change that.
He convinced his council colleagues to pass a resolution a year ago encouraging the state to provide accommodations for pedestrians and bicyclists when they design new or improved roads and bridges, including a pending project to calm traffic on River Street near the county courthouse in Wilkes-Barre.
Williams also plans to revive his push for an amendment to the county’s land development and subdivision ordinance requiring sidewalks and bike paths in certain developments.
“Accommodating pedestrians and bicycles is measure of a progressive community. Providing them will attract people to live here and to encourage those living or studying here to stay,” Williams said.
Williams said it’s not uncommon to see pedestrians and joggers in the roadway of many rural and suburban roads.
The state included a bike path along state Route 309 in Mountain Top that has been criticized as unsafe, largely due to the concern a white line separating the path and road wasn’t enough to prevent motorists from veering off to the side.
The new trend is to separate bike lanes from the roadway with a row of parked cars, landscaping or some other divider, Adams said.
Bike paths are sorely needed but have limited benefit if they are isolated and suddenly end, he said.
“You also have to have connection,” Adams said.
Making it safer
The planned expansion of several hiking/biking trails into the Wilkes-Barre area from multiple directions eventually may force more consideration of bike-friendly planning in the downtown down the road, officials say.
Carol Hussa, who promotes healthy living and serves on the county’s Recreational Facilities Advisory Board, said surveys show increased bicycle traffic in downtown Wilkes-Barre in recent years, in part because public buses are now equipped with bike racks.
Gus Genetti, founder of the Wilkes-Barre Bike Share program, which is run out of his Genetti Hotel and Conference Center on East Market Street, also operates a program allowing people to borrow a bike for a day.
Hussa believes separate trails along highways would be heavily used. She recalls a conference where officials in one area invested in a path despite predictions it would be empty.
“It got to be so popular and well used between cyclists and pedestrians, that it got to be a traffic jam on the trail. That’s a good problem to have,” Hussa said.
Learn the laws
Jones, of Around Town, said he’s equally sympathetic to motorists who encounter bicyclists who needlessly veer toward the center lane.
“Bikers also have to be aware of the laws as well,” he said. “I try to be as far to the right as I can,” he said, stressing his business, like some others, attempts to educate cyclists about the laws.
Adams said he has cringed observing the following scenario: a bicyclist behind cars at a red light squeezes up to the front of the line instead of waiting in place.
“Then you have the same situation again because the cars have to pass the biker. The biker should wait and then go with traffic, staying to the right,” Adams said.
The same confusion applies when pedestrians and bicyclists are mixed, such as atop the levee, Jones said. Some bicyclists and pedestrians aren’t aware of each other on the popular path along the Susquehanna River, he said.
“There have been some severe accidents on the levee for that reason,” Jones said.
Adams said he makes a noise to alert pedestrians he’s approaching and tries to pass them at walking speed. Protocol requiring pedestrians to stay to the right would help because walkers sometimes split up in confusion, forcing him to squeeze between them, he said.
Belleman said he’d consider a center line on the levee path to encourage users to stay to the right and pass on the left, but only if the authority obtained a grant to fund the expense. The authority must use revenue from a fee on property owners benefiting from the levee for flood control expenses — not recreational enhancements, he said.
Buffers and gripes
Brian Russoniello said the 4-foot buffer can save lives.
“The law is as important or more important than any other law because bicyclists are really susceptible and almost in danger every time a car goes by,” he said.
Harveys Lake Police Chief Charles Musial said there have been no bicyclists hit by motorists around the lake in his 18 years on the police force, and he wants to keep it that way.
“If everybody does the recommended posted speed, nobody should ever have a problem with a bicyclist. It’s the people who travel over the speed and quickly come upon a bicyclist around a curve that cause potential problems,” Musial said.
He also regularly speaks to bicyclists about their responsibility to stay to the right. Like slow vehicles, bicyclists also are required to pull over at the first safe opportunity if they are holding up a line of traffic, the law says.
Musial said a handful of residents regularly complains about bicyclists at public meetings, and he doesn’t understand the discord.
“I drive this lake more than anyone, and I’ve never had a problem with a cyclist,” he said. “If people are in that much of a hurry to get around this lake, then they should be in an ambulance.”