Chicago has unveiled its new Bike 2015 Plan, designed to achieve the mayor’s goal to make the Windy City the most bicycle-friendly city in the United States. Work has already begun on 75 of the plan’s 150 strategies, including Constructing 10 miles of new bikeways in 2006, to help reach the plan’s goal of a 500-mile bikeway network by 2015…
The Plan’s Strategies Include:
- Providing secure bike parking inside city buildings, to encourage employees to bike to work.
- Hiring 10 “Trail Ambassadors†this summer, a Chicago Park District initiative to make the Lakefront Trail safer for cycling and other trail users.
- Providing free valet bike parking at 11 Chicago festivals in 2006, courtesy of the Chase Bank.
- Establishing a mini-grant program to support community bicycling efforts. Funded by SRAM, a Chicago-based global manufacturer of innovative bicycle components.
- Permitting passengers aged 14 to 17 to board CTA trains and buses with their bicycles, on a trial basis, so that Chicagoland high school students can combine transit and bicycle use.
Rob Sadowsky, the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation’s Executive Director, added, “The plan covers everything we hoped for: from new exciting active living programs such as Sunday Parkways to specific facilities that will make bicycling in Chicago safer and more enjoyable. The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation applauds the City of Chicago on what we see as the most ambitious bike plan in the United States.â€
“Bicycling reduces traffic congestion, conserves limited energy resources, integrates healthy physical activity into everyday travel, and reduces transportation costs,†CDOT Acting Commissioner Cheri Heramb said. “This plan lays out the steps so that Chicago’s bicycle facilities and programs will rival those of any large city in the world.â€
A copy of the plan is here.