MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – On Thursday evening, the City of Marquette’s E-bike Task Force held a special meeting, providing an update on their progress and allowing public comment towards the many angles that surround e-bikes in the area.
So far this summer, the task force has worked alongside the city’s engineering and public safety officials, to coordinate a plan to introduce new local standards for the vehicles. Public comments included implementing ideas for better etiquette on bike paths, bike registration, speed limits signs and proper enforcement.
“There’s got to be consequences. That’s number one, speed limits that would accommodate everybody,” said one Marquette resident. Another said, “if it had a license plate like we have on our cars saying ‘this is registered to somebody,’ we’d be able to report these issues much easier.”
One common safety issue stems from the implemented rule that bans class two e-bikes or higher from Marquette’s multi-use trail. This has become a problem, as these bikers are riding in busy roads, rather than their previous route.
“If I follow the rule, I have to be on the road. That is not safe. Nobody wants me to be on the road with my little kids,” said a concerned parent. Another parent explained, “if it was my child, I certainly wouldn’t want them on the street.”
One commenter brought up that each solution comes with barriers for others, saying “for every restriction that we talked about bringing up, there’s a caveat of it, potentially excluding someone who want to be able to explore Marquette this way without an automobile.”
The task force will continue looking into bike shops and rentals, as well as multiple trail networks on ways to improve the quality of e-bike usage. Along with meetings like on Thursday, they will eventually address everything to the city commission by mid-December.
