As a Lady's Island cyclist, I've been interested to read recent letters about bicycles sharing roads and pathways.

Twenty years ago, a friend and I frequently rode up to Coosaw Island, but as the traffic increased annually, we gradually stopped.

Our main artery, Sams Point Road, basically is the original two-car-wide road leading to Coosaw.

Wide enough for two passing cars but a tight fit for a wide truck or school bus and a car, it definitely isn't safe for bicycles.

A past letter pointed out that cyclists have the same legal rights as cars. I find that incomprehensible. Even a very fast bike rider on Sams Point Road would quickly be overtaken by a car doing the legal 45 mph. One second's inattention on the driver's part, and you'd have an injured or dead cyclist.

Obviously, if we ignore budgetary limitations, the ideal solution would be first to widen Sams Point Road, then add a bike path on one side and a walking path on the other. There seem to be objections to a combined walking and cycling path.

There are schoolchildren to consider and new houses and developments coming.

While we wait for change, cyclists are limited to neighborhood streets and occasionally scurrying fearfully across Sams Point Road.

I hope we're on the necessary improvements list and not too far down.

Elizabeth Kittredge

Beaufort