Share the Road: Leland's Bicycle Plan
by Kate Smith

After a spring 2007 survey by the Leland Parks and Recreation Department revealed that Leland residents overwhelmingly feel the town needs more adequate bicycle facilities, Leland is working to make the town more bicycle friendly.

In the past year and a half, much has been going on behind the scenes between the Leland Parks and Recreation Department and the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT). Fortunately, the town had the foresight to initiate a Comprehensive Bicycle Plan and therefore is eligible to apply for grants to complete the projects detailed within it.

The goals of the Parks and Recreation Department includes adding connections between roads within the Town of Leland and Brunswick County to make more areas accessible to bicyclists. These connections are between Holly Hills Drive and Sturgeon Drive; Fletcher Road and the Northwest District Park; Wayne Road and Royal Street; Night Harbor Drive and Olde Town Wynd; and Grandiflora Drive and Timber Lane.

Another goal is to modify the U.S. Highway 17 intersections at the entrances to Magnolia Greens and Westgate and Waterford and Ploof Road to a three-phase superstreet crossing in which pedestrians and bicyclists will have designated crosswalks and signals telling them when it is safe to travel. This will allow residents of neighborhoods on both the west and east sides of U.S. 17 to have easier and safer access to the various amenities on either side of the highway.

Within the next year NCDOT has plans to widen Village Road between U.S. 17 and Old Fayettville Road. Leland Parks and Recreation Department negotiated with NCDOT to ensure the project included wide outside lanes and five-foot sidewalks on both sides of the road. Though still in the planning phase, there is also a plan to widen another section of Village Road from South Navassa Road to Lanvale Road. Leland plans to work with NCDOT to make sure bike facilities are included.

A more long-term goal of the Bicycle Plan is to develop a greenway from the Brunswick County Nature Park off N.C. Highway 133 to the area of Leland just south of U.S. 17. This greenway would utilize the wide pathways of Brunswick Forest and has the potential to be included in the East Coast Greenway System, a series of pathways that will connect from Calais, Maine, to Key West, Florida.

Finally, Leland Parks and Recreation Department plans on continuing its bike-safety education in local schools, churches and youth groups and with its annual Bike Fest, which will celebrate its third anniversary in spring 2009.

A local group of avid bikers, the Cape Fear Cyclists, remain committed to the cause of promoting bike safety as well as supporting the Town of Leland in their efforts to improve bicycle facilities. Dave Staebler, one of the participants in the Steering Committee who contributed to the Comprehensive Bicycle Plan as well as an active member of Cape Fear Cyclists, is eager for the town to complete some of its goals. Staebler, a Leland resident, says narrow roads with no shoulders are the biggest obstacle to cycling in Leland. When the town completes some of these projects, he and his group will have more options when planning their rides through Leland, which they do at least once a month.

Neil Brooks, Leland’s Manager of Parks and Recreation and Environmental Programs, says that now is a good time for the town to start adopting some of the plan’s recommendations into zoning ordinances as the Town of Leland is in the process of reviewing all of the existing regulations. That way, the town can ensure that when new neighborhoods, schools and businesses are built they will be made to comply with certain recommendations, such as having wide multi-use paths, space for bike racks and connections to nearby parks and neighborhoods.

The downturn in the housing market that has slowed growth all over the country, including Leland, has had at least one positive benefit in that town now has more time to work on projects such as the Bicycle Plan as well as the Parks and Recreation Plan. Brooks says, "Growth has happened so fast in Leland but now it has slowed down and we can catch our breath and focus our attention on these ideas that were put on hold. It’s a good time and a good opportunity to get these projects done."