Missouri Bicycle News Article

For the first year ever (as far as we know!) Bike Month and Bike to Work Week in Missouri has been officially declared by the Missouri House, Missouri Senate, and Governor Nixon. That sets the stage for a whole series of great events going on across the state:

KANSAS CITY
Kansas City's Bike Week 2009 kicked off with a press conference at the Power and Light District. Mayor Funkhouser, Councilwoman Cindy Circo, and Councilman Russ Johnson talked about the City's new Bicycle/Pedestrian Action Committee and the new Bicycle/Pedestrian Plan the city has recently adopted. Johnson rode his bicycle in to work this morning and Johnson, Circo, and KCMO Bike/Ped Coordinator Deb Ridgway rode to the press conference from City Hall, accompanied by a group of local cyclists.

Mayor Funkhouser reiterated the city's support of moving Kansas City from worst to first--from a city that is "terrible for bicycling" (as Mayor Funkhouser put it in his speech) to Platinum level Bicycle Friendly City by 2020. The Bike/Ped Action Committee is preparing to apply for its first level of Bicycle Friendly City status later this summer and next year's action plan includes installing 175 miles of signed bicycle routes and 100 bicycle racks, among many other things.

- MoBikeFed's photos from the press conference

- All photos from the press conference

- All photos from KC Bike Week

- KCStar covered the press conference, as did Pitch Weekly (in a slightly different way)

SPRINGFIELD
Springfield's Bike, Bus, & Walk Week kicked off today. See KSFX coverage here.

ST LOUIS
In St. Louis the Drive Your Bike Challenge goes all month, the St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation is sponsoring a series of Bike From Work rides, and area organizations are gearing up for a number of fun Bike to Work Day activities Friday, May 15th.

COLUMBIA
Columbia's Bike, Walk, & Wheel Week was held last week (to accommodate college & university schedules in Columbia)--reports are of a record participation with over 5000 registered.

STATEWIDE
Columbia's KOMU covered Missouri's jump in the state bicycleability rankings from 28th to 17th. MoBikeFed's Fred Schmidt spoke to reporters as did PedNet's Robert Johnson.

Pitch Weekly also covered the dramatic improvement, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is working on a story.

Related:

News: THE VOTE: Springfield News-Leader's endorsement of Amendment 3 attacked

News: European cities lead the way on greenhouse gas reduction

News: 20 Kansas City-area mayors sign onto climate protection agreement

News: Major bicycle plan proposed for Kansas City

News: Kansas City council approves Bike/Ped Action Plan