FAIRPORT, N.Y. — Tony Kiel has slung pizzas in his corner of Fairport for 48 years, and not once, he said, has he known of an accident on his shop's side street involving a bicyclist.
That's just one of the reasons why he, and others, have railed against a proposed bike trail that would consume curbside parking on Liftbridge Lane East, where TK's Pizzeria has run since 1975.
"Bikes pass safely. Cars slow down for them. No one's ever gotten hurt. So why would they need to do this?" Keil said as he slaps another loaf of fresh pizza dough onto his shop's kitchen table; this time, with a little more vim signaling his frustration with the plan.
The "they" Keil speaks of are village leaders who've made installing a bike path on a two-block-long side street in Fairport's main commercial district, part of what the village calls its Active Transport Project.
It's an investment, through bike paths and other infrastructure enhancements, to develop what two-term Mayor Julie Domaratz and others have termed "transportation equity."
"People want to be able to get around and when you can get there, help the climate and make sure that everybody can get there, not just cars, the community itself benefits," said Domaratz. "It's now an even more interesting place that people want to move to."
Keil has been the merchant most public with his opposition to the plan, which was introduced in September and due to be executed this spring. TK's Pizzeria loyalists believe the bike path and its elimination of curbside parking will drive the landmark village establishment to the brink.
"What you can do for me is to call the plan off and don’t put it in front of the shop," Keil said.
Village planners introduced six options for the Liftbridge Lane East plan. Half of them ended curbside parking, half did not. Fairport's village board prefers the one that eliminated parking bump-outs and straightens the street.
Fairport's website also said option one, as it's known, would create a safe place for pedestrians, bikes and automobiles.
A bi-directional bike lane, separated from pedestrians, would sit on the north side of the road. Bike lanes are separated from the automobile traffic lanes with a curbed, 5-foot wide median incorporating granite curbs, plantings, street trees and decorative, functional street lights. The median may include some sort of hard surface that during summer months can hold pots with plantings similar to those on Liftbridge Lane West.
Automobile traffic lanes are located on the south side of the street and the lanes are slightly wider that the current lanes, allowing for deliveries and larger trucks that need access to deliver on the north side of the street.
Appropriate crosswalks and signs will be located on the street near the median cutouts providing pedestrians to be more clearly seen by auto traffic.
Bob Laurro of Fairport was among the customers sitting in TK's on a typically busy Friday night. He laughed at the thought of the bike path plan.
"What, are they goofy? What about these people? The hell with 'em? Is that it? He’s been here for ages," Laurro said.
Trevor Kriewall nodded in agreement, sitting at a table near Laurro. He moved to Fairport a few years back and tried TK's for the first time because the pizzeria shared the initials of his name. Now he and his wife Katie bring their son and daughter for a slice a couple of times a month.
"I’m pretty sure bikes can ride in the street," Kriewall said. "[I] see it done safely all the time."
Under Domaratz, the village intends to change that. It's exploring a bike path on its Main Street that crosses the Erie Canal. It believes families in Fairport, and beyond, will choose to discover the village, and its businesses, if they can ride off the state's canal path and onto safely engineered bike routes, especially on Main Street.
Advocates for the bike path point to research done in recent years that points to business improvement in communities where paths are created. Most of that research charts bicycle traffic in urban centers. Little research has been conducted on suburban communities like Fairport.
"There is no clear-cut dedicated bypass and you’ve got traffic parked cars and bikes, and sometimes pedestrians all trying to compete for safe passage," Domaratz said.
With every order and every flyer he puts on his pizza boxes, Tony lets his customers know that without parking, his shop could be in trouble. No matter how you slice it, all involved see it as new versus old.
"I'll be interested to see if the village counts the ones who don’t want it with the ones who do want it. None of us running a business think this is going to increase the business," Keil said.
"I know it’s scary," Domaratz said. "It’s scary if you’re a business owner. It's scary if you’re a member of this community who goes to certain businesses. Am I still going to be able to get there? It’s scary if my family and I want to bike down the street."