FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — Folks in Fort Myers Beach love their bicycles.
They’re especially fond of electric bikes.
“You see all the traffic right now? It’s two-hours off,” said 30-year Fort Myers Beach Resident Dan Larsen. “If I want to go up, I get on my e-bike and take it to the North End.”
Fox 4 community corespondent Stephen Pimpo looks at the pros and cons of having e-bikes back on Fort Myers Beach sidewalks:
But to make that trip, Larsen would need to stay on Estero Boulevard since e-bikes are not allowed on Fort Myers Beach sidewalks.
“We have a bike lane here from the South End all the way to Red Coconut,” Larsen said. “Red Coconut, we lose that bike lane and up there it gets treacherous.”
Monday, the Fort Myers Beach City Council will hear an ordinance that would let e-bikes back on the sidewalk. Resident Kenny Funk worries about the risk this could pose to older residents.
“The bad things is, when the bikes are not coming with the people walking, they come up behind you, it kind of startles you a little bit and could cause you to fall off the sidewalk,” Funk said.
If passed, the ordinance would include safety measures. E-bike riders must obey a speed limit, use safe passing procedures and operate with the flow of traffic, with penalties for those who fail to do so.
“15 miles an hour max, slow down when there’s people,” Larsen said, giving examples. “Common sense goes a long ways.”
The ordinance must go through two readings before it is put to a vote.
