It was 1976 when the City of Cincinnati created its last bike plan. Fast forward 33 years and the Bicycle Master Planning process is starting up once again in hopes of encouraging more cyclists throughout Cincinnati.
"Our hope is that by building a citywide network of bicycle infrastructure, and supporting it with educational programming, we can transform our culture so that average Cincinnatians feel as safe riding their bicycles for daily trips as they do riding in their cars," say Michael Moore, interim director of the Department of Transportation & Engineering (DOTE).
The Bicycle Master Plan is meant to provide a long-term vision for the development of a citywide bicycle network consisting of bike lanes, trails, signed shared roadways, and bicycle parking. City officials also state that the network will be complimented by educational encouragement and enforcement programs that will help cultivate a cultural awareness of bicycling as a viable means of transportation in Cincinnati.
In May, the
Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) released a Cincinnati Bike Route Guide meant to highlight important points of interest such as preferred routes, bicycle lanes, hills, and bicycle racks.
In June, Cincinnati installed the region's first "sharrow" along Clifton Avenue. The
new sharrow markings are meant to increase automotive awareness of bicyclists. The sharrows have been successful in other cities at improving both safety and visibility for bicyclists.
The City has also been studying the feasibility of dedicated bike lanes along Spring Grove Avenue that would connect Northside and the center city with a high-quality bicycle route.
All of this bicycling news has created a buzz in the bicycling community in Cincinnati, and it is this buzz that the City is hoping to capitalize on when they begin this week with a "rolling focus group" coordinated by the Cincinnati DOTE and
Queen City Bike, a local bicycle advocacy group.
During this process, staff from the Bike Plan project team will be riding city streets with local cyclists to learn about existing problems first-hand. They will also be looking to hear about improvements that cyclists hope to see made in the future.
A new Bike Plan Stakeholder Committee will also be meeting for the first time this week to kick things off for the new Bicycle Master Plan process. City officials state that the group consists of roughly 50 people with corporate, non-profit and community representative backgrounds. The first public open house for the Bicycle Master Plan is scheduled for October 8 at 7pm at the McKee Recreation Center in Northside.
Writer:
Randy A. SimesPhotography by Scott BeselerStay connected and follow Randy on Twitter
@SoapboxRandy
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