Capitol Day 2013: Missouri Friend of Bicycling & Walking Award Winners

As part of the 2013 Bicycle and Pedestrian Day at the Capitol in Jefferson City, we are honoring a number of Missourians who have done amazing work to promote bicycling and walking in their communities, across the state of Missouri, and nationwide.

Award Winners from a previous year

Please join us under the rotunda of the Capitol at 10:30am on Monday, April 8th, 2013, as we honor these outstanding Missourians.

Our Annual Awards Ceremony is an opportunity to celebrate the progress Missouri has been making to become a state that is more welcoming to those of us who walk, run, bicycle, and use trails.

• Nominate an award winner for the 2014 Distinguished Service Awards
• See honorees from previous years

Cassie Hage, Kirksville/St. Louis
Cassie was the chief instigator and founder of the Kirksville Bicycle Co-op.  While a student at Truman State, Cassie first helped start a bike loan program.  She then spearheaded the effort to find money, resources, and space to start the Bike Co-op in 2005. The Bike Co-op model is to teach people how to take care of their own bikes. It provides tools for anyone to use, and training on how to use the tools. Bikes can be left to be repaired as students have time to work on them.  The Bike Co-op continues at Truman State and Cassie now serves as Executive Director of St. Louis Earth Day.

Randy Pogue, City of Warsaw
Randy is City Administrator for Warsaw.  He conceived and executed a vision of Warsaw as a bicycle, pedestrian, and trails friendly city, building the city's economic development plan around those principles.  Warsaw now has miles of trails, on-road bicycle routes, a mountain bike park, an improved biking & walking friendly harbor near downtown, and sponsors a number of biking and trails related events each year. Warsaw is now one of the best small towns for bicycling and walking in the United States, in large part thanks to Randy's vision and leadership.

Ed Hassinger, MoDOT, St. Louis
Ed is MoDOT District Engineer for the St. Louis region who has been very supportive of numerous bicycle and pedestrian projects and programs over the years.  Under Ed's leadership, the St. Louis District has been a leader among MoDOT districts for accommodating bicycling and walking.  Ed has worked with MoDOT staff to integrate proper ADA design in area sidewalks, has also been very supportive of a recent initiative to address pedestrian fatalities in the St Louis region, and to encourage the inclusion of a bike/ped walkway in the newI-64/Daniel Boone Bridge.  This will be the first bike/ped walkway on a freeway bridge in Missouri.  Recently Ed served a directive to staff in St. Louis to focus on priority ares of implementation of the Gateway Bike Plan and to include a copy of the plan in every office to focus staff on implementation of the plan in each area team when possible. 

Linda Marshall, Bolivar
Linda advocated for, promoted, and wrote a successful Safe Routes to School grant application for Bolivar. As an avid outdoor exerciser who lives near the school complex, Linda saw how unsafe it was for students to walk to school, worked to get the right people on board with finding a solution, wrote the grant with input from the school superintendent and city administrator and submitted it with their signatures.  The grant was awarded by MoDOT's Safe Routes to School program and the sidewalks for children to walk safely to school are now in place. 

Laurie Chipman, Kansas City
Laurie and her husband Jeff Perry, have been stalwarts of the Kansas City bicycling community for decades, serving as volunteers with numerous clubs, programs, and events.  Laurie started the Brookside Ride, now in its 12th year, runs a large email list related to the ride, is a member of the Kansas City Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee, has served on the boards of the Kansas City Bicycle Club and the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation, has done a great deal of graphic design work for the bicycling and walking community (including MoBikeFed's logo), is a key organizer of the Tour de Brew Kansas City, a fundraiser for BikeWalkKC, and was an organizer of the Ride of Silence in Kansas City for several years.

Jeff Perry, Kansas City
Jeff was a founder and board member fo the Greater Kansas City Bicycle Federation, founder and organizer of Cranksgiving in Kansas City, and along with Laurie, helped organized the Ride of Silence in Kansas City for several years. Jeff has helped rebuild and distribute many bicycles to those who will need and use them and is a tireless advocate for bicycling at the personal level. Jeff is a great example of the power of one-to-one personal bicycle advocacy--getting individuals excited and enthused about bicycling, helping people find the right bicycle for them or repair their bikes, and helping friends and neighbors discover the joy of bicycling.

Todd Antoine, Great Rivers Greenway District, St. Louis
Todd is Director of Planning for the Great Rivers Greenway District in St Louis City, St Louis County, and St. Charles County.  Between 2002 and 2013, GRG has invested over $10 million per year in trails, bicycle routes, and programs in the greater St. Louis area--a successful model for ongoing funding of bicycle, pedestrian and trails infrastructure we would like to see replicated elsewhere in Missouri. With new Arch, Trails, & Parks Tax in St Louis city and County, Great Rivers Greenway will be overseeing nearly $20 million in annual funding for trails, bikeways, and greenways and an additional $10 million per year to improve the area around the Arch grounds. Todd has been involved in key projects at GRG ranging from the river ring system of trails to the Bike St. Louis on-street route system to the Gateway Bike Plan, a comprehensive regional on-road bicycle plan that covers GRG's service area.

Phil Broyles, City of Springfield
Phil is Director of Public Works for the City of Springfield at a time when Springfield's on-road bicycle system is growing by leaps and bounds. In the past two years, Springfield has added bicycle lanes to nine miles of Springfield roads and shared lane markings to another nine miles. An innovative project called "The Link" is underway to create an eight-mile bicycle boulevard type connection among key destinations in the city. The city has three trail projects planned for 2013, has doubled the rate of upgrading and adding sidewalks in older neighborhoods in the past two years, and has begun to routinely to build bicycle and pedestrian projects and funding into the city's capital funding for public works projects. Under Phil's direction, the City Council is working towards adoption of a citywide Complete Streets policy of considering bicycle and pedestrian accommodation in every new street project and resurfacing project.

Ian Thomas, PedNet, Columbia
Ian is a founder of Columbia's PedNet Coalition, one of the pre-eminent local advocacy groups in the nation.  Under Ian's leadership, PedNet advocated for a comprehensive complete streets policy, one of the very first in the nation and a model for the national Complete Streets movement, started a groundbreaking Walking School Bus program, again a model for similar programs now common across Missouri and the nation, advocated for better trail connections, help guide Columbia through an effective implementation of the $25 million GetAbout Columbia federal Nonmotorized Pilot Project, and has developed PedNet into a nationally and internationally renowned consulting group for bicycle and pedestrian advocacy and Safe Routes to School. Ian has recently stepped down as Executive Director of PedNet and has won election as Ward 4 City Councilman in Columbia. Ian is on the Safe Routes to School National Partnership Steering Committee and a board member and consultant with America Walks.

Cindy Cantrell, Trailnet, St. Louis
Cindy, Trailnet's Safe Routes to School Coordinator, has been a tireless promoter of Safe Routes to School in the St Louis area and throughout Missouri. She has pioneered several innovative and effective bicycle and pedestrian safety and promotion programs in area schools, helping making Trailnet a leader in Missouri's Safe Routes to School movement. She builds strong relationships with parents, school administrators, and teachers, and has successfully piloted a curriculum that teaches children pedestrian safety and how to advocate for pedestrian safety. Cindy's vision extends to state and national issues.  She has been one of the most active contributing members of the Missouri Safe Routes to School Coalition.

Tour de Corn, East Prairie - Missouri Bicycle Event of the Year
The Tour de Corn is one of Missouri's biggest, longest-lived, and most successful bicycle rides, with over 1100 riders and 100 volunteers participating in 2012. The Tour de Corn started in 2002, when cyclist Mike Bryant approached Silvey Barker of East Prairie Tourism. The two put together a committee that works year around to organize and coordinate the ride.  Proceeds from the ride benefit a number of charities and causes, including the local fire department, library, parks, senior citizen nutrition center, and food pantry.

Martin Pion, Gerry Noll, Elizabeth Simons, and the City of Ferguson
In 2012 the City of Ferguson passed a groundbreaking new bicycle law clarifying the ability of bicyclists to have full use of the right lane. This new law may be a model showing the way for other Missouri communities and for the state to improve their bicycle laws. Martin is a long-time bicycle transportation advocate and educator. He started the process after nearly being ticketted for controlling the curb lane while bicycling on a four-lane road in Ferguson.  Gerry, a local cyclist, cycling instructor, and bike shop owner, brought business support to the initiative.  Elizabeth is Program Manager for Live Well Ferguson, a collaboration between the city and Trailnet that helps Ferguson residents lead healthier lifestyles through active living and improved dietary habits. Live Well Ferguson has  taken on many projects, like the "full use of right lane" law, that impact policy, enhance the built environment and create healthy social networks.  City Manager John Shaw, Assistant City Manager Pam Hylton, and Police Chief Tom Jackson, all cyclists, were instrumental in helping to draft the law.  Mayor James W. Knowles III signed the ordinance, which was sponsored by city council members Mike Salant, Tim Larson, and Dwayne T. James.  The ordinance passed the city council by a vote of 5-1.

Jill Schupp, Missouri House of Representatives, Creve Coeur
In 2010, MoBikeFed member Ryan Metcalfe met with Rep. Schupp about a ticket he had received because his bicycle rack was partly covering his license plate. Rep. Schupp worked tireless to solve this issue, making key connections with the bicycle community, Creve Coeur police, the highway patrol, the Department of Revenue, and many members of the House of Representatives.  The result was a bill that was acceptable to all parties, was introduced by Rep. Caleb Jones and Senator John Lamping in the Senate, and well as Rep. Schupp, was endorsed by both the House & Senate Transportation Committees, passed by both the House & the Senate and signed into law last June.  Rep. Schupp's work on this issue is an excellent example of how a legislator can bring together different constituencies, help resolve problems and find solutions, and work across party lines to solve problems for the benefit of all Missourians.

Bob Dixon, Missouri Senate, Springfield
During his tenure in the House and the Senate, Senator Dixon has been one of the strongest supporters of bicycling and walking in the General Assembly.  Under his leadership as Chair of the House Transportation Committee, the House passed a number of important bicycle and pedestrian bills.  His most important contribution, however, is in his support of the Complete Streets movement in Missouri, first by supporting a Complete Streets bill that appeared in the House Transportation Committee for several years, and then by serving as Senate handler for the Complete Streets Resolution, HCR 23, which was passed in 2011.  During the years the General Assembly worked on the Complete Streets issue, Missouri went from three adopted Complete Streets policies to 21 policies.  Now more than 1.6 million Missourians live in a city with a Complete Streets policy and more than three million live in a Metropolitan Planning Organizations that has adopted a Complete Streets policy.