A pair of bike paths along Main Street in Lima
Jacob Espinosa | The Lima News
ALLEN COUNTY — Lima and Allen County have made strides from a decade ago in bike and pedestrian safety, but more work can be done, according to Josh Unterbrink of the Allen County Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force.
The task force recently completed its fall 2024 bike and pedestrian count and while results are not available yet, Unterbrink said due to the recent good weather there was an uptick in activity throughout the county.
“This count might be an anomaly, but until those figures are calibrated and tallied, I’m not exactly sure what they’ll look like,” he said. “Since we started conducting these counts approximately 10 years ago, we have seen an increase throughout the region, both in Bluffton and Delphos, and in Lima and throughout the county in more active transportation users, meaning more people using human-powered modes of transportation, be it cycling, walking or hiking.”
The American League of Cyclists designated Lima a bronze Friendly Bicycling Community, but Unterbrink said the city has the potential to one day get a silver designation.
“If you go to Chicago or Nashville or some of the larger cities in the United States, their bike lanes and crosswalks are very bright,” he said. “So I think that maybe is another step where we can start really highlighting those lanes and drawing further attention to them, especially around schools. It costs money to make those improvements though, so we have to justify them with data so I’m really proud of the decision-makers in this region that have come together to make this a priority and improve where we can while looking into the future to elevate the community.”
Professor at Rhodes State College and member of the Allen County Low Vision Coalition Jacob King said, as someone who not only gets around via bike and bus, but also does so due to ocular albinism which makes him legally blind, he gets great joy out of being able to travel to his job and the grocery store from where he lives near downtown Lima without using a car.
“I don’t exclusively bike to work, but I often take the bus to work and what I will do is ride from my house to the RTA station, put my bike on the bus and go to campus from there,” he said. “We have a house full of six people so I can load up to a week’s worth of groceries from Ruler Foods and ride it home and that’s not something you can do everywhere. My wife does drive and when she’s able to make a grocery run, that’s great, but it’s good to know that I’m able to use my luggage rack and make it work.”
King said there are differences in how Lima works compared to cities like Cleveland and limitations caused by infrastructure, but what Lima has going for it is a willingness to adapt and the baseline requirements in place, including paths.
“I absolutely love the Ottawa Metro Park and all the connected trails here,” he said. “I ride on those trails all the time and the lanes downtown help you get to them. It can be a challenge here from time to time, but when there’s a bike lane, it’s much easier to get around and stay connected and active transportation is always a good thing.”
It might not be as easy for riders outside city limits, but Unterbrink said Allen County has done a great job of adding miles of on- and off-road pathways.
“Typically, about 90 percent of cyclists don’t feel comfortable riding on any given roadway,” he said. “We need extra safety precautions so it’s great to see those continue to be added throughout Lima, Bluffton and Delphos, as well as the rest of the county.”
What is the future of cycling in the region?
Lima does not yet have a scooter rental program like larger cities do, but Unterbrink has noticed something along that vein.
“We’re seeing the proliferation of usage of e-bikes so I believe that is going to increase everyone’s ability to use human-powered transportation,” he said. “I think we’re considering adding a separate designation into the counts going into 2024 to say who is walking, biking and using electronic transportation.”
For more information and a map of Allen County’s bike and pedestrian pathways, visit bit.ly/3Na58Qk.
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.
