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UPDATE: The Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation reports, “A St. Charles County proposal to ban bicycles from shoulderless highways around the Katy Trail town of Defiance was tabled at a County Council meeting last night, but will be reconsidered next month with the possible addition of more roads on the banned list.” Click here to stay up-to-date as the issue develops.

When officials in the small town of Black Hawk banned bicycles from their streets earlier this year, Colorado advocates worried the absurd prohibition would spread to other locales. “Bicycle Colorado is very concerned about it, because we don’t want it to set a precedent that other cities would follow,” said executive director Dan Grunig.

Unfortunately, it appears Grunig’s fear was well founded.

A bicycle ban is now rearing its head in eastern Missouri.

Joe Brazil, a Republican councilman in St. Charles County (which borders the big city of St Louis), will likely introduce a measure at a meeting tonight that would make it illegal to ride on a handful of two-lane highways in the southwest portion of the county. His argument sounds eerily similar to the rhetoric out of Black Hawk: Brazil insists his intent is to protect cyclists, who allegedly are endangered by high-speed motorists on highways with no shoulders.

“You’re going 55 (mph) and there’s absolute limited sight distance,” Brazil told the St. Louis Dispatch late least week. “You come around a corner and come upon a bike in seconds and you have to react.”

“This is a problem we’ve had out here for years,” he added, suggesting that he gets more complaints about the issue than on anything else.

Advocates in Missouri are gearing up to push back against the proposed ban.

Meanwhile, in Colorado, advocates are keeping the heat on Black Hawk officials. On June 29, Bicycle Colorado held a rally that drew more than 100 bicyclists and several state policymakers, calling for a repeal of the ban. “This is a basic freedom issue,” state senator Chris Brophy told the crowd of bicyclists.

Get the latest on the Black Hawk campaign at Bicycle Colorado and stay tuned for updates from Missouri.