Building safer roads for cyclists worth a discussion in Manatee County

It is borderline crazy that it takes a tragedy for us to discuss a critical issue.

But here we are.

The death of Village Idiots member Patrick Franklin Sr. on Jan. 22 on El Conquistador Parkway, just east of 43rd Street West in Bradenton, has left the cycling community both shocked and angry.

Village Idiots Cycling Club President Dawn Zielinski said no one was safer on a bicycle than Bradenton's Franklin, who was 67.

"He was one of my leaders, and he was not afraid to tell people they weren't following the rules," Zielinski said. "He was a leader who you trusted, and who kept the other cyclists in line."

According to the cycling club, Franklin was riding in a bicycle lane when he was hit by a truck towing a trailer. The Florida Highway Patrol report only says Franklin, and the driver, were both headed east on El Conquistador Parkway and a collision occurred. It is an open investigation, so further details are not available.

"This is truly a tragedy and a shock," said Eugene Rider, the vice president of the Florida Bicycle Association and a member of the Village Idiots. "Nobody should be killed for riding a bike. It is heartbreaking. We spend so much time trying to educate the public. He was killed because somebody wasn't paying attention."

Richard Garrett, the president of the Florida Bicycle Association and a member of the Village Idiots, agrees. 

"We should do better than this," Garrett said. "This brings the reality that cycling has been neglected by the engineers. We have failed to create protected bike lanes. There is a better way to design mobility."

Garrett said Franklin was a longtime riding friend.

"He was the guy who would always stop to help you ... like if you had a flat tire," Garrett said. "He was the guy you wanted to ride with, safe and predictable. This is such a tragedy."

Garrett said Franklin's death motivates him to work harder to call attention to safety for cyclists on the roads. He said cyclists and pedestrians are getting little attention from those building the roads.

He called Florida the "No. 1 death trap" for cyclists in the U.S.

"We need a lot more education," he said. "We have to learn how we reduce our conflict points. I am going to redouble my efforts to make it safer."

Rider called Franklin's death "deeply personal" and calls for the public to understand that "these deaths are not inevitable, they are preventable."

He said according to a Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles report, Florida had 196 bicycle fatalities in 2025, the most in the nation. In Manatee and Sarasota counties combined, there were five bicyclist fatalities.

"Those numbers are real people, real families, and real loss," he said.

Both Rider and Franklin are outraged that the penalties for a motorist accidentally killing a cyclist tend to be very light. If a driver accidentally kills a cyclist where that motorist has committed a moving violation, that minimum penalty can be $5,000, a one-year suspension, and mandatory traffic school.

However, I don't see focusing on penalties as being particularly useful.

Construction is the way to go, but the cycling community has to convince the non-cycling community that safe bicycle paths should be a high priority for our tax dollars. That is a tough sell at a time when county commissioners say we don't have the money to make the major road improvements that are needed, such as the widening of Lorraine Road from State Road 70 to S.R. 64.

Even so, this might be a golden opportunity for Manatee County to go above and beyond when it comes to providing alternative transportation routes. In September, Manatee County commissioners talked about spending a percentage of the increased impact fees to bring the Manatee County Trailways Master Plan to fruition.

The trail system concept was first introduced in 1999, and the commissioners currently have an estimate of $130 million to complete the system, which eventually would link into Sarasota's Legacy Trail and the state's Shared Use Non-motorized Trail (SUN Trail).

A typical shared-use path alongside a road costs about $2.1 million per mile, according to county statistics.

Here is an important, and expensive, part of that thought. If you want to get the avid cyclists off the road, you have to build a trail system where they have their own space away from walkers or joggers. That shared use space works for recreational cyclists, but not so much for those going 10 to 20 miles at a time.

Beyond the trail, the county needs to look into building a "network" of lanes that would create alternate transportation opportunities. Can we get as many e-bikes and bicycles off the roads as possible? Wow, that would be expensive, but it is worth a discussion.

It's a tough sell to taxpayers — like me — who never are going to use those trails. Can you spend $500 million on a system that only 5% of the community is likely to use?

Perhaps a referendum would be a good way to judge interest? Would we be willing to tax ourselves to bring some of these ideas to fruition?

Meanwhile, we are left to mourn for Franklin.

News of Franklin's death spread quickly among the club members and they reached out to Franklin's family.

"The way they have reached out to us ... incredible," said Patrick Franklin's daughter, Sarasota's Heather Franklin. "The club and the bicycling was not about the sport (to her father), but about community. It was his love."

Zielinski said Franklin was an ambassador for the club who would greet riders and make them feel at home. She said he came up with nicknames for many of the riders. He referred to her as "Madame President."

Another example was Village Idiots' member Jennifer Holmen.

"I have ridden with Patrick on a regular basis for 10 years," Holmen said. "He was very laid back and friendly. He would pass by me and say, 'Jen Jen.' He always was so happy to see everyone."

Holmen said such news does force cyclists to question how they conduct their hobby.

"Do I find another route?" Holmen asked, noting that Franklin's accident was not in Lakewood Ranch. "Here's the thing, if you are going to be doing this type of activity, there is a possibility of danger. When we first started riding in Lakewood Ranch, it wasn't as high a traffic area. Now, with all the building, it's more congested. So do I find another route? Do I stick to Legacy Trail?

"I don't ride alone because there is strength in numbers. That's my own rule. This shouldn't have happened."