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Riding for bicycle safety photo by Drew Fleming Bicyclists roll down the Bear Creek Greenway bike path Thursday on the first leg of a 300-mile Ashland-to-Salem trip to encourage support for a proposal to build safe routes for kids to walk and bike to school. Portland cyclist Karen Frost (far right) will pedal the entire distance. Ashland riders (from left) Carol Lee Rogers, Wil Thomson and David Young, joined in for the first day�s ride. By Bill Kettler ASHLAND � The father of Oregon�s Bicycle Bill pedaled through town Thursday to support bicycle path legislation. Don Stathos, of Jacksonville, rode with other advocates of the "Safe Routes to School" bill (HB 3712) at the start of a weeklong Ashland-to-Salem ride designed to build support for the measure. Introduced by Rep. Vic Backlund (R-Keizer), the proposal would commit $5 million annually for creating safe routes for children to walk or ride their bikes to school. The 300-mile ride, which culminates April 20 with a rally in Salem, also will mark the 30th anniversary of the Bicycle Bill. The law made Oregon the first state to commit public transportation money to bike lanes. Stathos, 77, who shepherded the bill through the 1971 Legislature, wore a helmet emblazoned with "HB 1700" (the law�s original bill number) on his spin from Ashland to Talent on the Bear Creek Greenway bike path. Stathos said the notion of committing public money for bike lanes was revolutionary in 1971. "If you wanted to do something," he said, "you were going to drive, not necessarily because you were lazy; there were no other options." The Bicycle Bill commits a minimum of 1 percent of highway construction funds to building bike paths on newly built and reconstructed roads. In Jackson County, bike lanes on the recently widened section of Highway 62 between White City and Eagle Point were constructed with funds from the Bicycle Bill. Bike lanes also will be included in the new Highway 238 project from Medford�s "Big Y" interchange to Rossanley Drive. Stathos said bicycle lanes have been built more slowly than he expected because the law applies only to new construction and major reconstruction projects such as road widening. Bicycle advocates lost a court fight that would have made the law apply to road-resurfacing projects. "I didn�t realize how long concrete and cement last," he said. The Ashland-to-Salem ride was organized by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, a Portland-based nonprofit organization that promotes bicycles as a healthy, non-polluting alternative to automobiles. The alliance supports the "Safe Routes to School" proposal as a way to help kids get more exercise. Fewer than 10 percent of American children now walk to school, compared to about 65 percent 30 years ago, said Catherine Ciarlo,a spokesperson for the alliance. "We have a ton of public health research backing up the notion that it�s a good idea for kids to walk to school," she said. Ciarlo said many children cannot walk to school because they are surrounded by busy roads and unsafe intersections. The "Safe Routes to School" bill would provide money for crosswalks, traffic signals, sidewalks and other improvements that would allow children to walk or bike safely to school. She acknowledged the proposal will face tough sledding in a legislative session in which competition for funding has been fierce. Stathos said building bike lanes gives people freedom to choose something besides the automobile to travel short distances. "We�ve constructed this nation so that it�s impossible to stay in good physical shape, Stathos said. "That�s a sad commentary on the richest nation in the world." On the Web: www.bta4bikes.org . Reach Bill Kettler at 776-4492 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.