Tonight, the Saratoga County Chamber joined with local trail advocates and residents to support Commissioner Peter Martin’s proposal to create bike lanes on Lake Avenue, in Saratoga Springs.

The opportunity to create a safe bike route from the Bog Meadow Trail to downtown Saratoga Springs along Lake Avenue is a key part of the on-road portion of the Saratoga Greenbelt Trail. The Saratoga Greenbelt Trail was approved by the City Council years ago. If completed, it would create a loop trail in and around the City for use by local residents and visitors to the City. Sections of the Saratoga Greenbelt Trail have already been completed, including a linkage from the trails in the Saratoga Spa State Park to the Railroad Run Trail as well as the Spring Run Trail. The City is currently working on plans for a downtown connector to link the Spring Run Trail with Congress Park.

We understand that the City is willing to work with the property owners along Lake Ave to make certain accommodations to address some challenges. Improving the bike friendliness of the City is important to our local economy. We see more and more visitors and residents biking in Saratoga today, especially now with the CDPHP Bike Share program and hotels offering free bikes for their guests. Becoming more bike friendly will reduce traffic, reduce the demand for parking spaces downtown and help to attract new talent as we compete with other major cities who have already established comprehensive bike and trail systems. We've seen many other cities take significant steps to promote bike lanes as a solution to safely getting people from destination to destination. It is time for Saratoga Springs to do the same.

Last year, the Chamber released this video urging the City to paint bike lanes on Lake Ave and Congress Street. 

We hope the City will move forward to hire a firm to develop such a plan for Lake Avenue. This plan should be created in collaboration with concerned residents and property owners so such a plan can be approved and implemented this year.