New bike lanes in Corbin just first phase of larger project, Salmons says

Bike lanes painted onto three streets in downtown Corbin are just the first phase in a plan that will make a majority of the town’s main roadways more bike-friendly.

State highway officials finished painting bike lanes on Depot, Fourth and Fifth Streets in Corbin last week. Corbin Main Street Manager Andy Salmons said its all part of the city’s bike plan, adopted by the Corbin City Commissioner last year. It represents the most easily obtained, “low hanging fruit” portions of the plan.

“It’s just the beginning,” he said. “The other streets we want to do are a lot more complicated. More state approval is needed to get things done.”

Eventually, Salmons said the planned bike lanes would connect a “majority of the core” of the downtown area for cyclists. Plans are even in place to put dedicated bike lanes along Cumberland Falls Hwy. when it is widened and reworked in the near future.

“They actually go the right-of-ways for that. They have those plans,” Salmons said.

Salmons said an ultimate goal would be to connect Corbin to Cumberland Falls for cyclists. Other goals include connecting Corbin and London via bikeways in order to capture “cycle tourists.”

“That’s the sort of stuff people are looking for when they do serious rides,” Salmons said. “It’s something that would really draw people to our area.”

The current bike lanes are delineated with a bright, white line and a stick image of a man riding a bicycle. On streets, or areas of the streets, where it is too narrow for a dedicated lane, Salmons that there will be “shareows” showing places where vehicles and bikes are supposed to share the road.

He said next on the list would be painting of bike lanes on North Main Street and in residential areas surrounding Rotary Park.
Corbin City Manager Marlon Sams said he’s impressed with what’s been done so far and looks forward to more in the future.

“There are a lot of bike enthusiasts out there. I travel and go to meetings in other cities, and a lot of cities are doing just this sort of thing,” Sams said. “I think what we are doing is giving people quality of life things. There more of it we can do the better.”