By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com
PALO PINTO – It was probably a more unusual day at the “office” for one Texas Department of Transportation crew Wednesday morning as a small audience watched them post a sign on Farm-to-Market Road 4. The large yellow sign sported the image of a bicycle.
“Woo hoo!” exclaimed Iris Stagner, the driving force behind getting bicycle signs posted on the section of FM 4 known to cyclists as Cherry Pie Hill, located between Palo Pinto and Santo.
As an enthusiastic cyclist herself, Stagner said she’s worked for months to get signage posted that alerted automotive drivers to the presence of cyclists on the hill.
“It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. I was told it would take years,” Stagner said.
Three years ago, Stagner said she began writing TxDOT asking for cyclist signs on the hill but never received a response. After speaking with cycling organizations such as the Bicycling Coalition in Austin, Stagner said she was told it “would be next to impossible” to get signage. “I was pretty discouraged at first.”
A cloudy forecast didn’t stop Stagner from trying to see her dream of cyclist signage come true.
“This year, I decided I was going to get into it and I discussed it with the [county] judge [Mike Smiddy],” she said.
The result was a petition that was circulated to hundreds of people asking for their support as well as the backing of entities and businesses.
“If it hadn’t been for the judge getting so involved, and the [Mineral Wells and Possum Kingdom] Chambers of Commerce, the city of Mineral Wells, the businesses like Chaparral Realty, Century 21, Kiwanis, all of the community, I don’t think it would’ve happened,” she remarked.
Less than three weeks after submitting her petition and the support from local entities and business, Stagner said, “I got a letter from Carlos Vargas out of Austin that they would put up the signs.”
TxDOT’s assistant supervisor Jerry Vandivere said he and his crew would post three more signs along the road – one north of FM 3137, one south of FM 3137 and another north of FM 129.
When asked about the enthusiasm he was greeted with by placing the cyclist sign, TxDOT employee Benny Light chuckled and said it made work “a little easier.”
Smiddy was in attendance Monday as the TxDOT crew set the first sign in place along with Pct. 1 County Commissioner Beth Ray.
“Congratulations to Iris and all the people who put in a lot of work,” Smiddy said. “I hope it makes it safer for everybody.”
“I think Palo Pinto County is famous for its beautiful, scenic roads,” Stagner said. “There’s more and more [cyclists] coming because we are such a beautiful county and have good roads to ride. I think people are getting more bike-friendly.”
