Boulder County, Colo. – The Board of County Commissioners will hold a public hearing to consider the staff recommendation regarding e-bikes on county trails on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 3 p.m. The hearing will take place in the third floor hearing room of the Boulder County Courthouse, 1325 Pearl St., Boulder
The staff recommendation is to allow Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes on most trails on the plains where bikes are allowed.
What: E-bikes on Boulder County open space – public hearing
When: Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, at 3 p.m.
Where: Boulder County Courthouse, 1325 Pearl St., Boulder, third floor hearing room
Parks & Open Space staff will present an updated recommendation regarding the use of e-bikes to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). The recommendation remains the same as presented at the Aug. 22 Public Hearing, and that is to allow Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes on most trails on the plains where bikes are currently allowed for a pilot period of one year.
At the Aug. 22 Public Hearing, the BOCC indicated support for allowing e-bikes on county open space trails, especially trails that serve a commuting purpose. The commissioners did not support allowing e-bikes under an interpretation of the new state law, given that the Boulder County Comprehensive Plan restricts recreation on open space to passive uses, defined in part as non-motorized. The BOCC directed staff to investigate 1) amending the comprehensive plan definition of passive recreation and 2) removing selected trail corridors from open space designation. Please see the Staff Memo for complete analysis of the options.
At the Nov. 8 Public Hearing, staff seeks BOCC decisions on these questions:
- Should e-bikes be allowed on selected county trails for a one-year pilot period?
- If yes, which trails should be open to e-bikes during the pilot period?
- If yes, what avenue would the BOCC like staff to pursue for allowing e-bikes on selected county trails after the pilot period?
- Explore an update to the comprehensive plan definition of passive recreation during the pilot period, then revisit the question of which trails are appropriate for e-bike access.
- Change the designation to something other than open space on selected trail corridors where e-bike access is deemed appropriate after the pilot period.
Visit the E-bikes on Open space web page to view the staff memo and all the background information, or contact Tina Nielsen, Special Projects Manager, at (303) 678-6279 or tnielsen@bouldercounty.org.
I am 62 and been a avid bicycle rider all my life MTB and road and now ride (class 1) MTB E-bike and love it.
I use to do many century and 500 mile bike rides, there had been a real change in lack of acceptance of road bike riding and have been hit by cars deliberately run off the road, have had things thrown at me from cars traveling at highway speeds.
I have gone almost exclusively all MTB single track trail riding, more relaxing and fun. I have health problems, both knees are gone and had to sell my all pedal bike because when it came to a climb my legs would give up. Switching to a Haibike ALL MNT E-Bike (class 1) allows me to bicycle ride again and do the thing I love to do, bicycle ride single track and not have to worry about being run over. Many of us riders are getting older and doing things we love like Mountain Biking let us stay healthy and active.
Our Class 1 MTB bikes do not go any faster then a regular peddle bike, it cuts out once it hits 20 MPH and I don’t even go that fast. All these bikes do is give assistance, there is no free ride, I have to peddle and all it dose it gives slight assistance depending on the setting.
Please allow Class 1 MTB bikes where all bicycle non e-bikes are allowed. We are all getting older and all these bikes allow us to do is what we were able to do when we were younger and healthy.