ALERT: Ask the National Park Service to stop 40 miles of bad rumble strips on the Natchez Trace Parkway

The National Park Service is proposing to add rumble strips to the Natchez Trace. The Adventure Cycling Association has sent out an alert asking all people who have an interest in bicycling the Natchez Trace to contact the National Park Service and ask NPS to preserve the Natchez Trace for bicycling and cut the rumble strips. Deadline Dec 20, 2019.

Bicycling is a popular activity on the Natchez Trace Parkway; adding rumble strips to this narrow road will make the road more dangerous for bicycling and lead to little or no improvement for motorists

The Natchez Trace rumble strips caught our attention for a couple of reasons:

• The Natchez Trace is near Missouri and a well-loved bicycle touring route for many bicyclists from Missouri.  The Natchez Trace runs from Nashville southwest through Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, ending in Natchez, MS.
   
• The National Park Service is proposing the same type of rumble strips MoDOT now installs in Missouri. So we have experience in Missouri with that type of rumble strip when it is added to a narrow, curvey rural route.  Rumble strips under the yellow and white lines do little to improve motorist safety but make the roads far less attractive and safe for bicycling.

The Adventure Cycling Association summarized the issue:

One of America’s most popular national parks for bicycling - the Natchez Trace Parkway - is proposing to install 40 miles of rumble stripes along the road’s edgeline and centerline in Alabama and Mississippi. With no shoulders and traffic speeds of 50+ mph, adding rumble stripes would be detrimental to bicycle safety and tourism for many reasons outlined below.

 

Please comment today and ask the park to not install rumble stripes along the Natchez Trace Parkway.

 

Why would rumble stripes be detrimental to bicycling on the Natchez Trace?

 

1. They can cause loss of control of a bicycle, causing injury to bicyclists or causing them to fall in the path of a moving motor vehicle.

   

   Proposed rumble strips for the Natchez Trace will be deep grooves placed under the white lines and the centerline
2. They limit options for lane positioning and reduce the possibility of an emergency escape.
3. Centerline rumble stripes can discourage motor vehicles from moving fully across the centerline to pass a bicyclist safely.
4. Without at least 4+ feet of separated shoulder space for cyclists, they do not protect cyclists from the possibility of being hit by a drowsy or distracted motorist.
5. They would detract from the cycling experience of the Parkway by creating noise every time a motorist passes cyclists.

 

Additionally, making the road more dangerous for bicycling would result in decreased bicycle visitation and tourism, which would hurt businesses in the parks’ gateway communities.

 

The only way to ensure that rumble stripes don't contribute to increased numbers of cycling injuries and fatalities is for the park to add a minimum four-foot shoulder to the right of the rumble stripe. However, the park has stated that this option will not be considered.

 

We need to hold the Natchez Trace Parkway accountable to safety solutions that work for all road users, especially the most vulnerable. Please submit your comments today or by December 20, 2019, either online or by mail to:

 

Superintendent

Natchez Trace Parkway

2680 Natchez Trace Parkway

Tupelo, MS 38804

 

Thank you,

 

The Advocacy Team

 

The Adventure Cycling Association indicated that several hundred cyclists have contacted the National Park Service about this issue, but it is still helpful if to have more interested cyclists contact NPS.  The Natchez Trace is one of the most popular cycling routes in our part of the country, and the proposal to add rumble strips to the Trace is one of the first test cases to see if NPS will follow their own recommendations about bicycle-compatible rumble strips.

You can find out more about the Adventure Cycling Association's rumble strip recommendations for major bicycle touring routes here.

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