Bloomington sets bike-friendly goal for 2016

By 2016, Bloomington will be one of the premier cycling cities in the country, if all goes according to city officials’ plan.

“We currently have what’s called a silver status. We were given that in 2010,” said Tom Micuda, planning director for the city. “We want to get to the highest status, which is a platinum status, by 2016.”

To achieve that goal, the city has set up the Bloomington Platinum Biking Task Force, which has begun making recommendations to get the city to the League of American Bicyclists’ highest ranking.

Task force member Kerry Greer, a graduate student in sociology, said getting to the platinum level will require a cultural change in Bloomington, as well as the city’s proposed improvements.

“The city is going to put forth all the framework that’s necessary,” she said. “It’s the people of Bloomington, it’s the students of IU that’s going to make it happen or not make it happen.”

The city has begun work on four stages of improving bicycle infrastructure.

First, the city has created a conceptual master plan, to be considered by city officials and hired a consultant to ensure the recommendations it makes are feasible.

Second, the city will conduct an engineering study to start changing signage and making improvements, which Micuda said should begin in 2012.

Third, the city wants to create bike boulevards, starting with an extension of Allen Street south of campus.

The bike boulevard will allow cars but will be more accessible to bicyclists than a normal street. The Allen Street boulevard will connect Allen Street through Bryan Park to the B-Line Trail.

“It’s potentially a great bike corridor to connect those neighborhoods south of campus to a major park to a major trail,” Micuda said.

Greer said she had hoped the proposal would discourage motor vehicle traffic more than it does but the city has been paying close attention to public comments in preparing the proposals.

Fourth, the city plans to use an old railroad corridor to create a bicycle— and pedestrian-friendly trail. The location currently being considered runs from South Henderson Street to the B-Line Trail, Micuda said.

“We did a study designed to figure out what the barriers were for pedestrians and make some recommendations regarding pedestrians and what we can do to make the area a little easier to navigate for pedestrians,” he said.

These initiatives will be funded by local money from the 2011 and 2012 budget years, as well as funds Micuda said the city hopes to receive —through the Bloomington/Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization.

All the changes should cost $800,000 of local funds and at least $400,000 of federal funds, but the total cost could be as high as $1.5 to $2 million, Micuda said.

Greer said the city will also be working closely with the University in the future to ensure the IU campus becomes more bicycle-friendly. IU was recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as a bicycle-friendly university March 21.

“It’s an aggressive goal,” Greer said. “I wouldn’t be a part of it if I didn’t think it was doable. But it’s going to take effort on the part of the people, not just the city.”