Worries about e-bikes spur call to revive trail council

With concerns rising regarding the use of electric bicycles and scooters, Ozaukee County officials are seeking to revive the Ozaukee Interurban Trail Advisory Council to work at regulating the vehicles on the Ozaukee Interurban Trail.

County ordinances already ban motorized vehicles, including so-called e-bikes, from the trail, which stretches 39 miles  between Milwaukee and Sheboygan counties and is meant to be used by pedestrians, bicyclists and users of other nonmotorized transportation.

“They (e-bikes) are very fast,” Supr. Rob Holyoke told members of the Natural Resources Committee last week.

“Every county is dealing with this issue and many have set speed limits but retracted them because of enforcement issues,” said Holyoke, an avid bicyclist.

Former Port Washington Police Captain Mike Keller last month called on city officials to place restrictions on electric bicycles, scooters and similar devices before someone gets hurt.

Keller noted there have been two recent fatal accidents in Wisconsin involving these types of vehicles — including one in Sheboygan that killed a 14-year-old boy in July.

Keller said many e-bike users aren’t old enough to drive and appear to be operating the electric vehicles carelessly, without protective equipment or knowledge of traffic laws.

Ozaukee County Planning and Parks Director Andrew Struck said the issue is nationwide, noting that at a recent convention of county parks directors he found, “it’s an issue in every county.”

The City of Cedarburg has drafted an  ordinance that would require e‑bike and e‑scooter users to follow state traffic laws, use proper lighting during nighttime operation, maintain functional brakes and operate their devices with care, according to the city’s website.

Holyoke suggested the Interurban Trail advisory board weigh in on the issue, as well as address other issues regarding the trail.

“I don’t think there’s a silver bullet here, but we need to move the ball on an ordinance,” he said, complaining that the advisory board has sometimes gone years without meeting.

“It should be meeting every quarter,” Holyoke said.

According to the Interurban Trail website, the council’s officers include Struck as its chairman, Al Krier of Port Washington State Bank in Fredonia as its vice chairman, and Yvonne Bishop of the Ozaukee County Economic Development Corp. as its secretary.

According to the OEDC website, Bishop retired from the organization in 2005.

Krier, reached by phone on Tuesday, said he resigned from the advisory council in 2014 when he retired from Port State Bank.

“It’s been at least 10 years,” Krier said by phone last week. “It’s a great organization. We did a lot of good back then. It was a useful group back in the day.”

Krier said he uses an e-bike.

“I do get around and really enjoy the area north of Port all the way up to Oostburg,” he said. “I love being out in the country with the trees and birds and nature.”

The advisory council’s mission statement reads, “To promote and facilitate safe public use of the Ozaukee Interurban Trail for transportation, recreation, health, education, economic development and enjoyment of Ozaukee County’s cultural, historic and natural resources.”

Struck told Holyoke that he and Paul Roback, with the county UW-Extension Office, will get to work on reconstituting the council.

Struck said he has a roster of public members in mind to call on.