Spoilsports will make path off-limits

Under construction since early this year, and scheduled to officially open soon, a ribbon of asphalt along Evans-to-Locks Road is an open invitation to hikers, bikers, runners, walkers and strollers.

It has also been a nifty little road for golf cars, spanning the 2.7 mile distance from Stevens Creek Elementary School to Savannah Rapids Pavilion. Unfortunately, if Columbia County commissioners have their way Tuesday evening, the route will be off limits to motorized vehicles.

Golf cars are especially excluded, says Columbia County Attorney Doug Batchelor, who wrote the new ordinance. Commissioners are expected to give the measure final approval at their regular meeting Tuesday evening in Evans.

Lets get this straight: Columbia County is the proud home of Club Car, the worlds best and biggest manufacturer of golf cars and small utility vehicles. Yet county officials, who built the trail using federal and state money intended to encourage alternate modes of transportation, are kicking golf cars to the curb!

Its a safety issue, they say. Baloney. The private developers at Riverwood Plantation near the Greenbrier complex built similar paths throughout those new neighborhoods, and golf cars, hikers and strollers coexist quite nicely.

More than anything, this looks like sourpuss government officials trying to nip in the bud any attempts to actually use the hilly half-million-dollar route. County Engineer Jim Leiper recently slipped and referred to the road as a cart path; it oughta be.