‘We’re not there yet’; Austin earns honorable mention as a Bicycle Friendly Community
Published 10:48 am Monday, November 28, 2016
- Vision 2020 Interim Coordinator Quin Brunner, Rydjor Bike Shop Manager Jens Raffelson, Vision 2020 Bike/Walk Chairman Steve Kime and BikeMN Deputy Director Nick Mason bike down Fourth Avenue Northeast on their way to tour Austin’s bike trails as part of a kickoff for city’s Bike Friendly efforts. Herald File Photo
The Austin community has earned an honorable mention in its application to be a Bicycle Friendly Community.
Steve Kime, from the Vision 2020 Committee, said the honor now becomes a benchmark for work done and work yet to be done as part of a future application.
“To be named as a Bicycle Friendly Community is very prestigious,” he said, adding that its award attracts visitors. “We’re not there yet, but we are doing some things that could get us there.”
The application is evaluated on five categories called the “5E’s”: Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement and Evaluation/Planning.
Austin rated most high in the first three categories and lower in the last two. Enforcement could be anything from bike patrols to changes in speed limits; evaluation and planning includes having a bicycle advisory committee, having a community bike program and a comprehensive bike master plan.
The award is given by the American League of Bicyclists and the local group was encouraged to apply by the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota.
Finished red bikes from the Red Bike program hang in the work area of Rydjor Bike. Herald File Photo
Kime said the work done on the award application — there were many who helped, he said — is a measure of momentum now in swing to keep plans open for the future.
Already, he said, work is being done on bicycle lanes, which is one of the measures of a bicycle-friendly community. There are multiple trails — from the Mountain Bike Trail to 15 miles of asphalted bike trails — within the community that already strengthens the application process. Key steps to future consideration includes a bicycle master plan, a complete streets policy, a bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee and improvement of the policies and practices regarding bike parking. Another application might be a year away, he noted.
Kime was excited for the recognition of honorable mention. Although not a bronze rating (there are silver and gold ratings, too), the process has boosted awareness of the needs of bicycle riders.
Steve Kime attaches a flyer for the Red Bike program to one of the red bikes displayed in a storefront window on Main Street. Austin Living. Herald file photo
There was a day, he said, when bicyclists were a relatively small group who sought trails solely for recreation.
Today’s growth in health consciousness has changed that. The trails are as much for exercise as they are for enjoying a ride on a sunny afternoon.
“When people look at communities, these are the kinds of things, like a good trail system, that they want,” he said.
We are lucky in this region, he said, to have the Shooting Star Trail, which has come from LeRoy, along Highway 56 as far as Rose Creek; the Blazing Star State Trail, that will eventually connect Albert Lea and Austin; and the Wapsi-Great Western Trail whose northern route is from Riceville, Iowa, up to the Shooting Star Trail near Taopi. All are planned to converge in or near Austin.
And that is a big deal for potential visitors and those wanting to live in this area, Kime said.
