Ames Bicycle Coalition advocates for city bicyclists
May 13, 2017
The Ames Bicycle Coalition has been behind some of that work, working alongside city officials to promote bicycle safety and amenities.
“Overall, Ames is a good community for bicycle commuting. It’s a fairly compact city and the bicycle network is getting more connected each year,” Sarah Cady from the Ames Bicycle Coalition said.
Communities are evaluated based on education, encouragement, engineering, enforcement and evaluation and planning. Cady said the Coalition works with the Department of Public Works and ISU Facilities Planning & Management to provide feedback on road projects.
“A lot of our work is behind-the-scenes and involves many hours at public input sessions and City Council meetings,” Cady said in an email.
Recently, the coalition provided feedback on the Lincoln Way Corridor Study, presented this spring. The study includes several proposed projects for various sections of Lincoln Way, and some sections could include shared use paths, bike lanes and protected bike lanes.
“One area where we have given a lot of input on the corridor is West Ames,” Cady said. “The shared use path along Lincoln Way is not great, because there are a lot of driveways, and turning traffic is very high on the list as the cause of bike-car accidents.”
The coalition proposed a separated path that would be south of Lincoln Way to increase bike safety. In Campustown, however, bicycles cannot ride on the sidewalk.
“We have proposed bike lanes on Chamberlain. In this way, you have a continuous route that takes you from West HyVee area to Campustown, while keeping bicycle traffic off Lincoln Way,” Cady said. “Some of these projects have been incorporated into the Long Range Transportation Plan.”
This would connect all of the apartments and student housing near Campustown and on Lincoln Way to a Hy-Vee and shopping area by bicycle.
Read more on the Lincoln Way Corridor Study here.
The coalition also uses Bike Month each May to focus on education and encouragement.
“We have already held a number of events this month, including a Bike Safety Rodeo for elementary aged children,” Cady said. “The breakfasts we have planned during Bike to Work Week are another way to encourage citizens to choose to commute by bicycle more often and reward them for making that choice.”
At the end of the week there is a ride planned to Reliable Street in Northwest Ames for an outdoor concert and picnic dinner, Cady said.
Cady said the group is hoping to hold some additional education classes for adult riders this summer, in addition to having regular group fun rides to various places around town.
You can stay up to date on Ames Bicycle Coalition’s activities and other area bicycling opportunities on its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/amesbicyclecoalition/.
Residents can also attend the Central Iowa bicyclist/pedestrian roundtable Wednesday in Des Moines to discuss city planning and the Central Iowa trail system. The roundtable will be at 420 Watson Powell Jr. Way, Des Moines.
The Central Iowa Bicycle-Pedestrian Roundtable formed in 2004 to further the development bicycle and pedestrian facilities in central Iowa. It includes the Ames Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Central Iowa Regional Transportation Planning Alliance. The mission of the Bike-Ped Roundtable is “to facilitate the development, maintenance, and promotion of a world-class commuter and recreational trail system in central Iowa.”
The Bike-Ped Roundtable meets the third Tuesday of each month, with Vern Willey of Altoona serving as chair. This month’s meeting falls during Bike to Work Week.
Bike to Work week leads up to Bike to Work day on May 19.
