BERLIN– Town officials approved plans for a community bike ride to be held in May.
The Berlin Town Council last week agreed to approve a new town wide bike ride. The event, which will start and end at Heron Park, will be held May 20.
“May is national Bike Month and is promoted by the League of American Bicyclists and has been celebrated in communities from coast to coast since 1956,” said Ivy Wells, the town’s economic and community development director. “National Bike Month is a chance to showcase the many benefits of bicycling and encourage more people to give bike riding a try.”
Wells said she was seeking approval for the new community event after working with the Worcester County Bike and Pedestrian Coalition. She said the group had hosted community rides throughout Worcester County in 2021 and wanted to expand those efforts in 2022. Rides are currently planned for May 14 in Snow Hill and Pocomoke, May 21 in Ocean Pines and May 20 in Berlin. The Berlin ride would start at 7 p.m. at Heron Park and would loop through town before ending back at Heron Park.
Wells said she’d worked with the Berlin Police Department on developing the route.
“Is there any way we could extend this into other communities, or other neighborhoods in Berlin to take advantage of possibly Decatur Farms and maybe Flower Street neighborhood?” Mayor Zack Tyndall asked.
Berlin Police Chief Arnold Downing said he would not support that, as he didn’t want participants crossing Route 113.
“Maybe in subsequent years could we extend the bike route to maybe cross the highway and go through Decatur Farms into other neighborhoods,” Tyndall said.
Downing said in that case he’d recommend setting up separate rides in various neighborhoods as he didn’t want those on the route to have to cross the highway.
Wells added that the focus of this year’s route was promoting the area along the railroad tracks, as the town was seeking a grant to build a bike and pedestrian path there.
Tyndall acknowledged that but said that as the town pursued grants it should also consider that grants might be available to help with safe highway crossings.
“Even if it’s a logistical hurdle I think it’s important for us to identify that because it is an appropriate means for saying in the future this is something we want to overcome,” he said.
Members of the bike group said they’d held rides in Berlin before without issue. Volunteers will be stationed at Heron Park during the event.
