By Frank Boyett
Henderson County's first stand-alone bicycle path is ready for rolling -- and boosters are hoping it becomes the initial spoke in a big wheel.
The path, which was paved Friday, starts at the cul de sac at the end of Barret Boulevard, goes behind the Wal-Mart and Lowes stores, and then follows the drainage all the way to Kimsey Lane.
It's a nice way for bicyclists to avoid heavy traffic on the U.S. 60-U.S. 41 cloverleaf, as well provides an easy walk for Redbanks and Redbanks Towers residents to get to Hoffman Plaza shopping center.
But "it is not for motorized vehicles," stressed County Engineer Bill Hubiak. "What we have right now is three-quarters of a mile of the first 10-foot-wide section of the bike path. I hope it's utilized. People have already been biking on it before it was blacktopped."
The idea of local bicycle paths has been percolating for 35 years. The widening of south Green Street provided a bicycle lane earlier this year, but Friday's paving provided the county with its first bona fide bike path.
It came about because District Judge Charlie McCollom approached Wal-Mart manager Gary Cunningham last year to see if the store would get on board. The two men then made a presentation to Henderson Fiscal Court Sept. 15, 2009, asking for government support for the idea.
Late Judge-executive Sandy Watkins was enthusiastic, and made sure that $75,000 of coal severance tax funds got allocated by the General Assembly to pay for the bulk of the cost. He also arranged for the donation of right of way by the Boynton Merrill family, which county road crews did the construction.
"It was something that Sandy had worked on and deserves credit for," said Judge-executive Hugh McCormick. "He was the one who led the charge to get it done.
"I'm just proud it's there and wish he was here to see it. Hopefully, it's just the start of more and more trails to come."
Watkins had envisioned a county-wide network of trails, and McCormick said he wants to continue working toward that vision.
"It'll take us a while to catch up with Daviess County, but we'll do our best."
McCollom, who has advocated local bicycle paths since about 1990, said "I'm hoping this will spark something and people will see it's a really good thing.
"I've always thought if we could ever get one thing going and people could see what it does they would want it and it would really be a boost. That's what's happened in Daviess County."
"I'm excited about it," said Nibby Priest, an avid local biker. "It's long overdue for Henderson, Ky. It's a great way people who live on U.S. 60 to bypass the traffic on the cloverleaf. It's the start of something really big for bicycling in Henderson."
More improvements are yet to come on the bike path. Cunningham got a $2,000 grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation and turned it over to fiscal court. Hubiak said that money will be used "to put up a little shelter area so people can picnic or rest. We'll be putting that right behind Wal-Mart."
Also, Henderson Municipal Power & Light is contemplating installing lighting along the path, according to Steve Smith, transmission and distribution manager.
"We're working on that, but it's not been approved officially," he said. "We cannot say we're going to do it at this time. Hopefully, it's going to be worked out so we can."
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