[NFBOH-Cleveland] Cuyahoga Valley National Park wants to hear more feedback about e-bikes - cleveland.com

[Cheryl Fields]

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2019/12/cuyahoga-valley-national-park-wants-to-hear-more-feedback-about-e-bikes.html?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Newsletter%20-%20Wake%20Up&utm_campaign=Newsletter:%20The%20Wake%20Up

Cuyahoga Valley National Park wants to hear more feedback about e-bikes
By Robin Goist, cleveland.com
Posted Dec 18, 2019

NNS
Cuyahoga Valley National Park has allowed visitors to ride e-bikes, pictured in this 2006 file photo, on trails where traditional bicycles are allowed. (Scott Shaw/The Plain Dealer)
Cuyahoga Valley National Park has allowed visitors to ride e-bikes, pictured in this 2006 file photo, on trails where traditional bicycles are allowed. (Scott Shaw/The Plain Dealer)

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio – Cuyahoga Valley National Park is asking more visitors to weigh in on its policy on e-bikes before those rules are finalized next month.

The park is accepting online comments through Jan. 6.

E-bikes, which are low-speed bicycles with an electric motor, made their debut in national parks this fall after a federal mandate in August from the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The National Park Service ordered that e-bikes be allowed on the same paths and trails as traditional bicycles, but park superintendents are able to tailor local regulations in the interests of safety and resource protection, among other concerns.

In October, CVNP sought public comments and announced a temporary policy to allow Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes – with speeds up to 20 mph – where traditional bikes are already allowed, except for the East Rim Mountain Bike Trails. Class 3 e-bikes, which can go up to 28 mph, are prohibited.

Of the 146 comments received, 102 were related to concerns of speed and safety on the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail, so the park has implemented a speed limit of 15 mph on the towpath.

“We heard and appreciate the concerns expressed in the first round of comments,” CVNP Superintendent Craig Kenkel said. “We were required to implement the policy but want to give our users another chance to comment before we finalize it in January 2020.”

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