Some of the most scenic roads in Missouri are in southwest St. Charles County. Each weekend they draw tourists to wineries and golf courses, folks looking to fish or hike in the Busch and Weldon Spring conservation areas, visitors to the Daniel Boone home near Defiance and bicyclists to the Katy Trail — and elsewhere, as we shall see.

About 50,000 people live in southwest St. Charles County. They are represented on the county council by Joe Brazil (pronounced BRASS-ill), R-Defiance. His constituents include farmers, small-town folks and suburbanites living in expensive new communities.

For them, the scenic roads are a mixed blessing. Yes, it’s a pretty place to live, but all those tourists clog up the roads they depend on to get to and from work, school, church and shopping.

In particular, many residents have a problem with bicyclists riding at 20 miles per hour on narrow, hilly state highways and county roads where posted speed limits are 55 mph. Now Mr. Brazil, in service of his constituents, aims to do something about it.

On Monday, Mr. Brazil introduced an ordinance that would ban bicyclists from county roads DD, D, F, Z and on Missouri Highway 94 southwest of Highway 40/Interstate 64.

Mr. Brazil appeared to be spoiling for a fight. He issued a news release to draw TV coverage to Monday’s council meeting and has since become a bête noire on local cycling blogs.

When we spoke to him at midweek, he said he was willing to work with his opponents as long as they were “reasonable. But some of them are just mean and hateful, like ‘it’s my world and you’re just living in it.’”

The council tabled discussion of Mr. Brazil’s ordinance pending a “work session” on the measure before the next council meeting Aug. 9. Democratic councilman Jerry Daugherty already has asked that the ban be extended to some roads in his district in the northern part of the county.

It’s not quite as scenic up there in the flat Mississippi floodplain, but as one courthouse wag put it, “The corn is as high as a bicyclist’s eye” so there are visibility problems this time of year.

The Missouri Department of Transportation says the county has no authority to regulate roads maintained with state money. Mr. Brazil says St. Charles is a “charter county” with broad authority to regulate health and safety matters.

Missouri law is explicit on the issue, said cycling advocate and instructor Martin Pion of Ferguson: “A bicyclist is a vehicle operator with the same rights and duties as a motorist.”

State law requires bicyclists to ride as far to the right as possible, a provision that some bicyclists routinely violate when safety conditions dictate, such as approaching a blind curve on hilly, shoulder-less roads in St. Charles County.

In such circumstances, bicyclists actually do motorists a favor by riding two abreast and bunching themselves together to the approximate length of a long, slow-moving motor vehicle, Mr. Pion said.

To the motorists behind them, it probably seems less a favor than an aggravation. We understand their frustration, but bicyclists have the law on their side.

This is a safety issue, so there should be room for compromise. There certainly is room for greater understanding and less hostility.