I received this email regarding an assault on the trail Thursday night.

Subject: Danger – please see that the biking guys know – they probably have a mailing list

My husband was pulled off his bike last night and beaten by two guys hanging around the bike path just north of Livingston at the Alum Creek intersection.
African-American males late teens to mid-20’s; one was lounging on the path maybe smoking a cigarette and the other guy moved off the path as he came thru and then knocked into him pushing him over. 

They did not take his bike or anything else – just beat on him.  Someone going by continued on but then called 911 – by the time the 6 cop cars came the guys were gone (into the woods there probably as people coming from the direction they went didn’t see them on the trail.)

it sounds like this is not the first time there has been some incident in that dark little section of the woods.

Exercise care!

What, if I take the road I have to face a gauntlet of sheriff’s deputies that do not accept the law, and if I take the trail, I might get mugged?

Roy’s reported case is also on Columbus file (Public Record/Case # 100643873).

At the same Alum Creek greenway trail location,  in June of 2009 a Bexley based biker  was obstructed, clubbed off their bike, beaten, robbed, and ended in the Emergency Room at Mount Carmel Hospital. Their case is also on record at the City of Columbus Police department. 

In addition to these well documented severe matters, other observed incidents include: panhandling, motorcyles on trail, a pimp and prostitute fighting over money, constant litter trash strewn about including used condoms,  empty alcohol containers, food containers, and adult men sitting behind the bushes on the ground or on concrete wall drinking alcohol, vagrants sleeping below the Livingston Ave bridge. Little to nothing has been done to clean up this area or provide routine daily safety patrols by Columbus Parks or Columbus Police personnel or to alert trail users to the the at-hand safety threats.

Columbus ‘311′ excuses from parks staff indicating they cannot yet remove thick honeysuckle brush undergrowth from woodlands because they are busy mowing grass is NOT acceptable.

Concerned citizens need to contact Columbus Parks Director, Alan McKnight, & Columbus City Councilmember Priscilla Tyson, Police, and Metro Parks leaders requesting immediate actions to remedy this and other known problem SUP/MUT areas before more violence occurs.

I was riding this portion of the trail today, August 18th, 2010, and found a cyclist collapsed in the middle of the trail.  Same area, wooded, curvy path just north of Livingston Ave on the Alum Creek Trail. I did not see what happened to him, and he was quite disoriented and could not remember how he fell of his bike.  It was not on a curve and there was nothing obstructing the trail, so I can only assume he was also assaulted.  Like the original post, it did not appear that anything was stolen.

An ambulance and two police officers were there within 5 minutes of my 911 call.  The cops did let me know to be careful in that area, and they had received several similar calls in the last couple of months.  This is such a shame…is the trail really not a safe option to avoid Livingston Ave and Alum Creek Dr anymore?  

Be careful out there and watch out for each other!

So if I try to bike to work I either go through th forest and the outlaws, or go down Alum Creek past the sheriff that tickets me?   Is this Nottingham or Columbus?   “Bike City USA”????  “Bike friendly”?????

@NotKilledYet

What portion of Alum Creek Dr. did you get ticketed on? (how many lanes? speed limit?)  I just started riding to work daily and I take the trail all the way from Broad St. to Watkins Rd., so I would like to avoid both getting mugged and ticketed.  This is incredibly frustrating!

I was northbound on Alum Creek Dr between Refugee and Winslow.  I was taking the lane, as I don’t ike to try to share the lane with COTA buses and Old Dominiom semi’s…It was a $97 ticket.  I have a 311 request in with the city for “Bikes May Use Full Lane” sign for Alum Creek Drive.  I purchased one such sign and I am trying to get the city to accept it as a donation.   The prosecutor in my case agreed with me, and had the magistrate dismiss the ticket. Can you come to the next bike subcommittee meeting so I am not the only one begging for reforms on Alum Creekk Drive?

So what was the ticket for?  Impeding the flow of traffic?  Were there multiple lanes and what is the speed limit there?

I have never ridden Alum Creek as I hear terrible things about it.  If the speed limit is high and there is only 1 lane in each direction I try to stay away. 

Tickert was for failure to ride as far right as possible…..Lane was 133″ wide, I am about 34″ wide on bike, and COTA bus behind us was 102″ wide,  so do the math.   I come up with -3″ to share with bus. Deputy either was depth perception challenged and thought we could travel safely side by side within the lane, or failed to recognize ORC 4511.55 Section C as valid Ohio law….  Law enforcement has had since 2006 to get used to the law.  It is absurd that in 2010 we are still being tickected on pre 2006 law. I figure “Bikes May Use Full Lane’ signs may be the only real way to educate law enforcement and motorists of the law.  I am very angry the city has not issued a variance in the rule that signs must be in ODOT’s manual to be placed in Columbus.  The sign is in the Federal Manual, and should be in Ohio’s, but they are in a 2yr process of updating the manual.   It has been 2 years since Tracy Corbin was killed on Alum Creek Drive, yet there are no bike lanes, and we are still being ticketed for cycling legally.  The city should put the sign up immediately.

Speed limit on Alum Creek Drive ranges from 40  to 45 mph.  I have been tailgated and passed  by angry motorists there when I was in my car going 50mph…

That’s ridiculous!  Ticketing for a law that’s no longer in effect AND never made sense.  I will probably try out Alum Creek one weekend to see what it’s like.  40 to 45 mph should be a rideable road.  I don’t have problems on more rural, single lane each direction roads out East that have speed limits up to 55mph. 

Is Alum Creek also one lane each way?  Like I said, I’ve never ridden on it, but I certainly don’t see any good reason why they won’t put up your sign. 

Christine,

Your frustration is appropriate, supported by studies showing that biking on paths is more dangerous than biking on roads and some road are too dangerous to bike (at least without motor-vehicle-quality daytime running lights.)

You’ve no doubt thought about alternative routes. Your brain naturally resists going in the wrong direction, but try circling around even farther….

I don’t know the area and don’t want to make it sound easy…. Try different bike settings on a cell phone GPS. Try moving away from the suggested GPS route and getting a new route. Keep exchanging alternative routes on this forum. Explore on the way home, when you may have more time. (Don’t use the MORPC bike map.)

It’s probably not practical for you, but you just might be as flexible as I was, moving to bike-friendly roads.   We chose a house within 3 miles of 25 mph streets of almost everything I go to in Columbus.  (Victorian Village, and there are others area….)

You’ve overcome the biggest hurdle to safe biking by recognizing the real dangers on bike paths and specific bike-hostile roads.  Now you just have to manage the risk, by avoiding those dangers.

And you should consider joining us pushing Columbus, OSU, DOT to implement their promises to quickly make the area bike-friendly and developing new ways to make drivers automatically give bikes enough room.  Cyclists have been struggling with your frustration forever, but there are some things quietly happening that may change the way people bike in traffic in Columbus and beyond.

Carl

There is no real altternate route between Livingston and Watkins. The tril is beautiful, but it goes miles out of the way, and now you have outlaws to contend with.  Alum Creek Drive is not a “bike friendly” road at all.  After Tracey Corbin was killed, I asked for bike lanes or a shared use path for Alum Creek Drive. They tell me bike lanes/ shared use path is planned, but construction will not begin for at least two years, possibly longer if $$ are not there.  Alum Creek Drive was a killer road 8/21/2008, and has not been improved since then.  If I were in better shape, I would take my chances on the trail rather than ride on the road.  None of the animals  ever ran me off the road trying to kill me yelling “Get the f&(k off the road” like motorists have done.   There are no bus connections in the forest, though.  My bike will most likely stay on the rack on my car until the car breaks down, or Alum Creek Drive gets my “Bikes May Use Full Lane” sign, or bike lanes.    Coleman has a long road down Alum Creek Drive past where Tracey Corbin was killed, on his route to “Bike City, USA”.  

Not Killed Yet is right, we need to concentrate on making roads such as Alum Creek Drive safe for cyclists.  I could also name other roads in the Columbus area that are unsafe for cyclists.  A cyclist should also not have to be forced to live in an area such as Victorian Village, Clintonville, Upper Arlington, or Bexley to pursue their hobby, or as many people are finding out, their means of transportation.  The county sheriff should be out there protecting the rights of cyclists and pedestrians, not trying to get them off the road (for their own good). Rather than painting sharrows and putting up “Share the road” signs, which do a limited amount of good,  we should be linking up side roads with bike paths and providing biking facilities on streets such as Alum Creek Drive, Sawmill Road, Bethel Road, Clark State Road, and others, so that cyclists do not have to risk their lives with the likes of those who want us off the road and are willing to scare, injure, or kill us to accomplish that.  I hope that the Bicycling Subcommittee, The Mayor, Suburban Mayors, and the County Commissioners will do their jobs and make cycling and walking safe activities.

Two years ago, almost to the day- 8/21/2008  Tracey Corbin was killed on Alum Creek Drive biking to work.   Not much has channged since he was killed.   When he was killed, I asked for bike lanes, street lights, and sidewalks for pedestrians.  Two years have passed, and the only differnce now is that the deputies ticket me for cycling legally there.   They tell me it will be another two years before any sign of bike lanes on Alum Creek Drive. So I asked for Bikes May Use Full Lane signs.  The  city wants to wait two years while ODOT updates their manual.    If I get killewdout  there, somebody please sue the city for not acting quickly enough!!!!!

 Tommorrow I plan to ride southbound on Alum Creek Drive from Frebis, by the sheriff’s place, down to where Tracey was killed.   I would really like someone to join me.   When I saw Tracey in his coffin, I told myself I must not let this rest until it is fixed.  What time is good for any of you?   And if tyou can’t ride, at least pause long enough to remember the name, TRACEY CORBIN.       

Thanks-Brent