Tallahassee Named Bicycle Friendly Community
December 9, 2009
New Policies and Improvements in Bike/Ped Infrastructure Recognized - The City of Tallahassee has been named a Bronze Level Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB). Tallahassee was the only new winner for 2009 from the State of Florida. Other communities in the state that have been recognized as BFC at the bronze level or above include Boca Raton, Gainesville and Orlando. Jacksonville received an honorable mention this year.
To celebrate this benchmark in the City's journey to become a safer, more accessible community for cyclists, City leaders and members of the local cycling community joined together today for a celebratory bike ride from the former Palmer Munroe Community Center to Messer South, both located on Jackson Bluff Road.
"The Bronze Level Bicycle Friendly Community Designation is really a recognition of the commitment of our elected leaders and our bicycling community to make bicycling a priority," Mayor John Marks said. "We have made many changes and improvements that have led to this Bronze level award. It will also serve as an incentive for us to keep striving toward the Gold as bicycling becomes even more of a transportation option and recreational opportunity."
Tallahassee was recognized for a mixture of policy, infrastructure and planning efforts in relation to bicycling within the community. Some of these efforts include the following.
- The City's 124 miles of bike lanes and having a plan in place for more. Commission Policy 600CP requires that bike lanes be included on all new and reconstructed major and minor arterial and major collector roadways.
- The Capital Region Transportation Planning Agency dedicates $1 million off the top of its budget, which is committed to bicycle and pedestrian (bike/ped) projects.
- Shared lane markings (sharrows) have been placed on Call Street, Virginia Street, Jackson Bluff Road and Killearney Way between Thomasville Road and Shamrock Circle.
- A shared use path was created surrounding Lake Elberta, in addition to existing similar paths around Leon County's Lake Henrietta and Martha Wellman Park, the later of which was built with Blueprint 2000 funds.
- All resurfacing projects must be evaluated for the ability to include designated bike lanes or sharrows.
- Renovations were done to the mountain bike trail system in both Elinor-Klapp Phipps Park (a new segment was added to the Redbug Trail) and in Lafayette Heritage Trail Park. Additionally, a new segment of mountain bike trail was added to the lower Cadillac Trail at Lafayette Heritage Trail Park.
- Bike racks exist on all mass transit busses.
- Bicycle education opportunities for adults and bicycle safety courses for children are offered throughout the year by several agencies within the community.
In addition, Tallahassee is home to numerous bicycling clubs, including Florida's oldest cycling club, Capital City Cyclists, which hosts several events each year that attract large numbers of riders.
In addition to the features noted, Tallahassee has made other strides toward making bicycling and walking safer and more feasible within our community. Blueprint 2000 has spent (or designated) $25-27 million in funds toward bike/ped facilities, including creating approximately 28 miles of sidewalks and bike lanes and designing an additional 18 miles that are awaiting construction. Further improvements to the mountain bike trail system are also being prepared in Tom Brown Park, including building Magnolia Trail near the Tallahassee-Leon Community Animal Service Center and making improvements to upper Cadillac Trail. The City is also planning to study, inventory and prioritize trail connections in the urban area.
To aid cyclists and walkers, the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning department is in the process of developing a Web page with an interactive map that will illustrate bicycle and pedestrian facilities and their locations within our community.
According to LAB, the BFC program is revolutionizing the way states and communities evaluate their quality of life, sustainability and transportation networks, while allowing them to benchmark their progress and work toward improving their bicycle-friendliness. The application to become a BFC is rigorous; currently, only 124 of the 318 total applicants have received a BFC four-year designation. The renewal process and four levels of the award - platinum, gold, silver and bronze - provide a clear incentive for communities to continuously improve.
LAB promotes bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation and works through advocacy and education for a bicycle-friendly America. The League represents the interests of America's 57 million bicyclists, including its 300,000 members and affiliates. For more information on the Leagues, please visit www.bikeleague.org.
Contact
Lynn Barr, CRTPA, 891-6801; or Lizzy Kelley, Communications Department, 891-8533
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