BOISE, Idaho — Changes could be coming to the Greenbelt, as Ada County is proposing a ten mph speed limit on the popular trail.
The Ada County Board of Commissioners was supposed to meet Tuesday morning, but after hearing so much public interest on the topic, they decided to postpone it until Aug. 13 at 6 p.m. at the Ada County Courthouse public hearing room.
"The ultimate goal is to have all counties -- every city in Ada County -- have the exact same ordinance with an agreement between all partners that it'll be enforced uniformly throughout," said Ryan Davidson, Ada County commissioner.
Greenbelt users are divided on the issue. Some said there needs to be more restrictions, but others are worried restrictions might affect their business.
Luke Ten Doeschate, who has biked every day to work for the last 30 years, is starting to worry about safety on the Greenbelt.
"I go fairly fast on my road bike, but I'm getting people flying by me on some of these electric vehicles," Doeschate said.
He says people riding too fast are caused by two things: The Greenbelt is getting renovated to have smoother surfaces and eliminate natural speed bumps, like tree roots. He also said the increased use of electric vehicles, when they aren't used properly, is contributing to the problem.
However, Doeschate said he doesn't think there should be a speed limit everywhere, but more in highly trafficked areas.
Ben Berquist, who owns the I Get Around bike store in Boise, said he isn't opposed to having a speed limit in congested areas. But he overall thinks there needs to be signage to tell people when to slow down rather than laws that could be hard to enforce.
"People are trying to get from one side to the other end, while everyone wants to be courteous, a lot of the time that people are responsible, most irresponsible about stuff like that, then that really creates the hazards that we see," Berquist said.
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