Bozeman recognized for being bike-friendly

Wind, sleet, snow, and scorching sun doesn’t stop Steve Kirchoff from commuting to work on his bicycle. Kirchoff, a Montana State University faculty member, joins 6.3 percent of Bozeman, Mont., residents who commute on two wheels all year long. Why? “Because walking is too slow, and you can’t smell the morning dew or hear the buzzing of a bee from inside a car,” he says, sharing that he bikes 95 percent of the time. The League of American Bicyclists recently endorsed Bozeman as a bicycle-friendly community, noting the relatively high number of residents commuting by bike year-round, even though snow covers trails and streets half of the year. Bozeman joins the ranks of bicycle-friendly cities across the country, including Seattle, Spokane, Boulder, Colo., Eugene, Ore., and Davis, Calif. Even with the national recognition, much still can be done to improve streets and byways of Bozeman and other Northwest communities, encourage a stronger focus on bike safety and increase the number of cycling commuters. This results in a healthier populace and fewer vehicle pollutants. “We are excited that Bozeman recognizes that simple steps to make biking safe and comfortable pays huge dividends in civic, community and economic development,” said Andy Clarke, League of American Bicyclists’ president in awarding the Silver award to the southwest Montana city of 37,000. The League’s five levels —Diamond, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze—recognize community efforts and offers guidance and expertise to improving bicycling. The League is trying – and generally succeeding – to increase the number of bicycle commuters. Census data shows that bicycle commuting increased 80 percent in America’s largest Bicycle Friendly Communities from 2000 to 2011. However, in the same decade, there was just a 32 percent increase of bike commuters among non-designated cities, those lacking Bicycle Friendly notation. Bozeman was among 28 new Bicycle Friendly Communities and 19 renewing city awards for 2012. “This latest round of BFC awards proves yet again that any city — regardless of size or geography—can take cost-effective steps to increase bicycling in their community,” said Clarke. “From Bentonville, Arkansas, to Bethesda, Maryland, cities are embracing biking as a means to save money, reduce congestion, improve health and boost their economy.” The Washington, D.C.-based organization works with engineers, city officials and bike advocates to produce bike-friendly routes. The Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board (BABAB) members, applaud the award while seeking more ways to improve commutes. “A bicycle-friendly award is a huge draw for people to want to come to visit or live in Bozeman,” says advisory board member Jenna Fallaw. “It is a great opportunity for Bozeman to show how it has improved the transportation network for bicycling by encouraging and engineering safe, comfortable cycling opportunities with initiatives such as the National Complete Streets Policy.” “Our Bike Count gave us an idea of how many cyclists we actually have and that information can also be used for future planning. Since we were not awarded the top level, the League of American Bicyclists will give us feedback on what the city can do better.” The BABAB’s Bike Count found 4,700 bicycles cruising around Bozeman in 2011. Fallaw, a teacher, shows students that biking or walking is a good way to begin and end the day. She bikes or walks a mile each way daily. “Our school started a ‘bike to school’ day last year to accompany a growing number of schools involved in ‘Safe Routes to School’ and BABAB’s Bike to Work Week,” Fallaw adds. Bozeman joined Missoula and Billings as bicycle-friendly communities of the Big Sky state, yet bike advocates and the League of American Bicyclists rank Montana as 46th nationwide for bicycle friendliness. In comparison, Washington ranks 1st, with 10 communities making the list (Spokane has a bronze rating), and Idaho ranks 36th, with three bike-friendly communities (Coeur d’Alene also has a bronze.) The League noted that Montanans need to pass laws boosting bicycle safety and that communities should adopt policies that encourage safer biking. The League suggests that the state create a statewide bicycle advisory committee to oversee improvement. Kirchoff, who was on the city commission from 1999 to 2007 and mayor from 2002-2003, sought to improve bike safety through additional bike and pedestrian paths and “along logical routes that would aid in biking to and from schools and to and from different parts of the city,” he says. “We changed code and we encouraged new businesses to design bike facilities—racks, and connecting paths—to their establishments. We worked to improve existing bike routes with signage and striping.” The work continues says Bozeman Street Department’s John Van Delinder, Superintendent for street, sign and signal, and vehicle maintenance. “The city adopted a complete streets policy which says all new collector and arterial class of streets will have bike lanes on both sides,” says Van Delinder. “In the near future streets such as College (19th to Main), Kagy (Willson to S. 19th) and N. Rouse will have bike lanes and/or adjacent shared-use paths. S. 23rd, N. 11th and S. Willson are scheduled to be retrofitted with bike lanes as standalone projects or in conjunction with maintenance activities.” When snow flies, notes Van Delinder, the street crews clear bike paths. “It has taken a few years to convince some of the old timers in my department that bikes are an important form of transportation,” he says. “I saw the change when one morning my two most senior employees told me that they got done plowing and then hauled snow off of the bike lanes without me asking them. “We have a saying that if everyone would ride bikes we would only have to plow a 5-foot bike lane. The argument that bikes don’t pay their fare share doesn’t work in Bozeman since we are funded by a Street Maintenance Fee that is paid by all properties whether they walk, drive, bike or ride a horse (It’s still legal to ride a horse on the streets of Bozeman.). We support and encourage bike events in Bozeman from kid’s bike rodeos to organized races.” About 5 percent of city employees bicycle to commute, he adds. The city has bikes at city buildings for employees to use during work hours to conduct city business, and the city’s administration encourages their use. Kirchoff recognizes that the city’s forward-thinking plans are working by “designating routes and improving facilities as we can. Most of that is prospective and dependent on future development and improvement of roads; when new developments happen, the city can design facilities that better accommodate bikers. But we could also continue to retro-fit some streets—both local and commuter—to be more friendly.” Several high-traffic streets need rebuilding, and other low-traffic streets that could be redesigned for safer bike travel. “I’ve always wanted to kick cars off certain streets, and make the streets pedestrian- and bike-only facilities,” he says. “South Fourth Street has precious few homes fronting it and could be re-designed with bollards andto control access (grandfathering auto access to the homeowners already there) and convert that street into walkers and bikers only. What a sweet north-south commute,” he said. “We could probably do that in a few other areas as well. I think it would be a mental sea-change for all of us to see some streets totally turned into something friendlier.” Some 57 million Americans ride bicycles for fun, fitness and transportation, according to the League, which has 300,000 members. Recent national elections are playing a part in the success—or demise—of bicycle-friendly commuting nationwide. The Environment and Public Works Committee Chair, California Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has influenced transportation policy toward funding, for example, bicycle routes through cities. Depending up various shakeups in Congress and some senators moving to new positions, the chairmanship of the EPW could help or hurt the future of new bike lanes and paths across the continent. While gaining some new voices, the upcoming Congress lost some strong bike- supporters from Massachusetts, Sen. Scott Brown, and Minnesota’s biking proponent, James Oberstar, leaving options for transportation revenue unclear. Yet communities such as Bozeman can take steps to encourage environmentally friendly commuting at a relatively low cost. For example, the Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board gave out bike lights to riders that were seen riding without lights at night. As funds allow, bike lanes and symbols are repainted with epoxy or an inlaid plastic, which lasts much longer that latex paint and make for safer travel since cyclists and driver can see the new paints. BABAB encouraged the city’s adoption of a hands-free driving ordinance, notes Fallaw, and created bike maps and signed bike routes. She would like to see that the schools’ driver education program also involve bikes on the road. “These measures as well as bikes shops stocked with studded tires and accessories to help with biker visibility increase bike safety,” she says. For Kirchoff, he pedals off to work asking, “Can you hear the bees?”