Why bike trails matter

If you've ever lived anywhere with a public commitment to bike trails and roads with wide enough shoulders for bikers and walkers, you understand why it's not just some warm-and-fuzzy indulgence for eco-freaks and yuppies.

The rational reasons are pretty compelling, though. Anything that encourages people to get out of their cars and walk or bike not only consumes less petroleum but keeps us healthier. There's even an economic development reason -- companies with good paying jobs like to locate in communities that care about quality of life.

Forget rational for a second. Taking a bike ride, a walk, a jog or even a horseback ride with family or friends on a gorgeous fall day simply is an awesome thing to do.

That type of commitment to trails and bike paths hasn't described Northern Kentucky. I think about that whenever I drive along Highway 237 near my Hebron home behind courageous bicyclists. The traffic logjams for the motorists and fear factor for the cyclists mean less satisfaction for both groups.

The Vision 2015 plan for Northern Kentucky's development addresses this. For example, a group is working to create a "Licking River Greenway" that also could link with Ohio-side trails.

Then, in a story in today's Kentucky Enquirer, I read how two Northern Kentuckians, Steve Wilmhoff and Dave Zimmer, have been working for two years to create a bike trail around the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

At first blush, I thought the airport idea seemed pretty weird, in part because of security. But there's a 5.6-mile trail around Lunken Airport in Cincinnati and a 12.5-mile trail around an airport where security has to be paramount because of its proximity to Washington, D.C. -- the Baltimore Washington International Airport. So, obviously, it can be done without too much worry about jogging terrorists getting closer than they could otherwise.

If you've been around CVG, you don't have to squint much to see that such a trail would be a regional asset. It would be 22 miles around the airport perimeter, on a plateau of mostly level land. Parts would feel rural and open, and parts would be an easy ride away from Turfway Park and the restaurants and stores along Houston Road in Florence. The Boone County Parks Department would manage it, and the trail could be a great enhancement to a countywide trail system that officials hope to have someday.

These are important efforts that should be studied, encouraged and, yes, funded through some combination of public and private dollars.