Atlanta Puts $1 Billion Toward Biking and Walking Projects | Bicycling

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

When we talk about “bike-friendly cities,” Atlanta isn’t usually one of the first metros mentioned—nor has it ever found a spot on our biannual Top 50 rankings. Known more for its car-centric urban sprawl and gridlocked tangle of highways, the Georgia capital has long been a tough place to navigate on two wheels.

But that could be changing. In 2013, Mayor Kasim Reed announced plans for Atlanta to become a top-10 cycling city—a goal that seemed a tad ambitious when he gave it a timeline of three years. But now that the 2016 deadline is here, the wheels are finally in motion: The Atlanta Regional Commission has approved a $1 billion plan to make the area safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

Again, that’s a ONE-BILLION-DOLLAR plan to make the city safer for human-powered transport. That would be great news anywhere, but in Atlanta it could go a long way toward securing the capital a coveted new reputation as a city that bikes.

The 'Walk. Bike. Thrive!' plan will roll out over the next 25 years and bring more bike lanes, sidewalks, and multi-use projects to communities in the metro that could use them most. Byron Rushing, the bicycling & pedestrian planner for the Atlanta Regional Commission, is optimistic but practical about what it could mean for Atlanta.

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Atlanta Puts $1 Billion Toward Biking and Walking Projects | Bicycling

Is any Missouri metro willing to stand up and invest a billion dollars in bicycling over the next 25 years?