From Staff Reports

GREENVILLE, S.C. — City officials are drafting signage that will dictate what is and is not allowed on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, but “it is unclear how or if these rules would be enforced,” according to the Upstate Post & Courier.

“Mobility advocates expressed concern that, without enforcement mechanisms, city rules will be selectively followed. Some of these proposed rules are difficult, if not impossible, to mandate,” the newspaper reported on July 10.

“One of the rules the city is contemplating tells trail users to ‘be kind.’ Officials are also considering posting a speed limit of 15 mph throughout city-owned portions of the SRT,” the Post & Courier noted.

The proposed addition to the rules on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, especially the setting of a 20-mph speed limit for bicycles, follows a recent announcement of a new, 2-mile spur of the Swamp Rabbit Trail along pedestrian bridges over major roads is coming to the Sans Souci neighborhood near downtown Greenville after Greenville County secured a more than $20 million infrastructure grant from the federal government. 

The Post & Courier reported that “the city already has signs placed around the trail that tell cyclists to ‘slow down’ or dismount under bridges, but those aren’t always heeded, said Frank Mansbach, the former executive director of Bike Walk Greenville.’

Meanwhile, the Post & Courier said that Jasmine Vanadore, the organization’s executive director, told the newspaper that “trail-users who take the time to read rules are likely already following them.”

The newspaper then quoted Vanadore as saying,“It’s a great thought to have signs with rules on them, but unless they’re going to be monitored and (enforced), ... what’s that for?” 

The Post & Courier then noted that, when it asked about enforcement of rules for users of the Swamp Rabbit Trail, City of Greenville spokesperson Loren Thomas texted back that “Greenville police patrol the trail and can issue citations for rowdy or unsafe behavior, although city staff is still working through how to institute speed limits. It won’t be as easy as having police dole out speeding tickets to cyclists.”

 Moreover, Sgt. Diana Muñoz, a spokesperson for the Greenville Police Department, told the Post & Courier that, as the newspaper worded it, “speeding tickets are limited to motorized vehicles — which are not allowed on the Swamp Rabbit Trail anyway.”