CAN KEY WEST PUT THE BRAKES ON SPEEDING E-BIKES?

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Electrical bikes in Key West have develop into a security concern given their speeds and shut encounters with pedestrians on the promenades alongside North and South Roosevelt boulevards. Keys Weekly file picture

Rushing e-bikes have develop into a security concern, however slowing them down on sure sidewalks isn’t a simple repair, as Key West lawmakers realized on the Jan. 7 metropolis fee assembly. 

Commissioner Donie Lee initiated a dialogue in regards to the electric-powered bikes, saying it was the highest criticism and concern that he heard from constituents throughout his marketing campaign.

The battery-powered bicycles both have pedals and a throttle that allows the bike to maneuver with out pedaling, or they haven’t any throttle and require handbook pedaling to provoke the motor help. Both method, the bikes are usually not purported to journey sooner than 20 mph, in line with Florida legislation.

“Something that goes greater than 20 mph and has a throttle just isn’t categorized as an e-bike; it’s an unlicensed motorized vehicle, in line with state legislation,” resident Evan Haskell, who owns We Cycle bike store on Inventory Island, informed the commissioners. 

He added that many so-called e-bikes working in Key West are illegal attributable to their pace and throttle.

He was including his voice to the rising listing of complaints in regards to the proliferation of e-bikes that usually function at unsafe speeds on metropolis sidewalks.

“I see firsthand the hazards they pose to pedestrians alongside the promenades of North and South Roosevelt boulevards,” Lee mentioned. “I don’t imagine that we’ll have the ability to implement something with out banning them from sidewalks.”

However therein lies the issue.

Metropolis legislation already prohibits e-bikes on metropolis sidewalks. However the metropolis can’t regulate them on state-owned sidewalks, which embrace the North and South Roosevelt promenades, Palm Avenue and Atlantic Boulevard. The state has jurisdiction over these roads and sidewalks, which means town can’t impose any pace limits or ban the e-bikes there.

“We’re not even allowed to place up any indicators warning the e-bikes of a pace restrict on the promenades, that are essentially the most closely used,” Police Chief Sean Brandenburg informed the fee on Jan. 7. “The Florida Division of Transportation has informed us no to any indicators. That’s a part of our frustration with enforcement.”

Lee, a former police chief, responded, “So it appears like there’s no method to implement our method out of this?”

“Not with out assist from FDOT,” Brandenburg mentioned, including that his officers have performed a number of schooling campaigns alongside the promenades, stopping e-bikes going sooner than 20 mph, handing out bells to alert a pedestrian earlier than they move them from behind, and distributing bike lights and multilingual pamphlets alerting folks to the foundations.

“I feel nearly all of e-bike riders are our employees who can’t afford a automobile, and most communicate Spanish or Creole, which makes it tough to speak the foundations to them,” Brandenburg mentioned.

The chief mentioned he’s attempting to arrange extra such schooling occasions, though Lee expressed his doubts at their long-term effectiveness.

“I’m all about schooling, however through the years we’ve completed so many bike security campaigns and it might assist for a month, however then goes again to the identical issues.”

Mayor Dee Dee Henriquez requested if there have been any legislative options that may very well be pursued with the state, as Key West isn’t the one metropolis coping with the difficulty.

Metropolis Lawyer Ron Ramsingh steered that it might be an excellent “non-economic ask” for town to request from state legislators.

A prison violation will be issued to the bikes that go sooner than 20 mph and have a throttle, however native cops aren’t outfitted to have the ability to distinguish these from authorized bikes., particularly since so lots of the illegal ones are modified after they’re bought.

“We’re speaking in circles right here,” commissioner Mary Lou Hoover lastly mentioned. “I feel the legal guidelines have to vary on the state stage to permit us to do issues regionally.”

The dialogue ended with commissioner Lissette Carey asking the chief to “see the present pace limits for e-bikes to be enforced.”

In different information

The town fee accredited the potential issuance of $226 million in bonds, in 5 completely different chunks of cash, that can be utilized for police and hearth division upgrades, street enhancements, sea stage rise mitigation, and parks, recreation and cultural services.

Any expenditure of bond cash would require approval by a supermajority of the fee, which is able to vote on particular initiatives individually. No curiosity will accrue and town is not going to need to repay any bond cash till it’s drawn down and spent on a particular challenge. The town has 30 years to repay any bond cash that’s used.

Key West voters accredited the issuance of the bonds in a November referendum.

Brian Barroso is metropolis supervisor

In the beginning of the assembly, the fee unanimously accredited, with out dialogue, the employment contract for Brian Barroso, who formally began work as metropolis supervisor the day after the assembly. See web page 6 for particulars in regards to the metropolis’s new high administrator. 

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