How Louisville achieved bicycle friendly status in two years

In 2005, Louisville, Kentucky, held a bicyle summit. The purpose was to turn Louisville from one the most bicycle-unfriendly cities in the nation to one of the most bicycle friendly.

And do it quickly.

In 2006, Louisville achieved "Bronze" status in the Bike Leagues' Bicycle Friendly Community program--years ahead of schedule. The city is now on the verge of adopting a complete streets policy.

Mayor Abramson was a speaker at the recent National Bike Summit. And his message was clear--if Louisville can do it, so can St. Louis, Kansas City, St. Joseph, Springfield, Hannibal, Cape Girardeau . . . and so on.

It all started with the Bike Summit in 2005. Here are the conclusions and recommendations of the Summit:

LOUISVILLE (Feb. 9, 2005) -- Mayor Jerry Abramson will create a task force to follow up on the findings and recommendations resulting from the first-ever Louisville Bicycle Summit. The summit was held Feb. 7 and 8 to identify ways to help Louisville become a bicycle-friendly community.

Recommendations include enhancements to existing roads, signs and markings, expansion of cycling paths and facilities, creation and recruitment of cycling events, and information campaigns to encourage cycling and educate motorists on sharing the roads with cyclists.

"Whether you're biking for fitness, pedaling to work, or exploring our wonderful parks, bicycling is crucial to this community's quality of life," Abramson said. "Through our summit, we've worked collectively with the biking community to set an aggressive vision for the future of biking in this community. Many of our goals are short term and many are much longer term, but these recommendations will help guide the projects and initiatives we'll pursue going forward."

Summit participants included area bicyclists and bicycle groups, transportation, urban and parks planners, employers, and city and suburban officials from Louisville and surrounding areas.

Also during last night's presentation, Bicycling Magazine presented Abramson with the designation of Louisville as one of nine national BikeTown 2005 cities.

Following is a summary of the summit's recommendations:

FIX THE BASICS

Safety
o Maintain existing roads and paths
o Add signage and striping to existing routes
o Specify accountability for road and path conditions within government
Education
o Promote biking for its health benefits
o Teach students and drivers the "rules of the road"
o Train government personnel and leaders on bike issues


BUILD ON ASSETS
Connect what we have
o Ohio River Greenway
o Olmsted Parks and Parkways
o Cross-town and North-South routes
Share what we have
o Better maps, website(s) and calendar
o Promotion - e.g. "Bike to Work" and Olmsted Parks tour


CREATE NEW ASSETS
Develop a community-wide network of bikeable roads and paths
Build a world-class VeloPark
Cross-river, 17-mile loop
Attract major racing event
Community cycling event suitable for families and novice riders
Establish clearinghouse for bicycling resources


BALANCE CYCLING NEEDS WITH THE COMMUNITY GROWTH AGENDA
Apply a "complete streets" policy to new construction and renovation of our roads
Work with Metro Council to adopt a bike-pedestrian-greenways master plan
Review state and local regulations to find ways to resolve conflicts between road users
Build campaign to obtain funding equity for Louisville
Seek additional funding opportunities for bike programs and faciities