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Congratulations Durango! In May of this year, Durango was awarded silver level designation as a Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC). We share this distinction with only 73 other communities nationwide, which have been awarded a designation of any type. Only 23 of these are at the silver designation or higher. Bicycle Friendly Communities, like those with vibrant downtowns and good schools, are associated with high quality of life. More and more, people are seeking out Bicycle Friendly Communities as destinations to vacation or to re-locate their families (NPR July 08, Nat’l Geographic Traveler June 08). This is an award to truly be proud of, but how did this designation come about? In March, the Bicycle Friendly Durango Task Force formed to submit an application to evaluate our community’s friendliness for cyclists. The evaluation is made by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB), the nation’s largest cycling advocacy group. The LAB evaluated Durango’s bicycle friendliness based on 5 criteria: Engineering – Education – Enforcement – Encouragement - Evaluation. Results of this evaluation revealed that Durango, indeed, excels in the area of Encouragement (we are all aware of how well Durango has promoted cycling events) as well as our extensive system of off-road trails. We are deficient in the areas of Enforcement (connections between cyclists and law enforcement), Education, and, most notably, Engineering. We are significantly lacking the infrastructure necessary to safely accommodate cyclists on public roads. How then should we address these areas of concern? This question was partially answered during a Bicycle Summit (May 8, 2008) sponsored by the Task Force, where over 60 participants discussed their thoughts on the local needs of cyclists and made suggestions for improvements. The number One recommendation given by not only the LAB but also by the Summit participants is the need for a full-time Bike/Pedestrian Coordinator position within the government structure. Over 90% of designated Bicycle Friendly Communities already have Bicycle Coordinators. In general, Bike/Pedestrian coordinators advocate for the needs of alternative transportation inside community government. The good news is that, the City of Durango has committed to creating the position of a Multi-Modal Transportation Director. This position will enhance and replace the recently vacated Transportation Director position. The city has included the position in its ’09 budget and expects to hire the Multi-Modal Transportation Director in March of ’09. The county will provide funding for some projects and it will be considered a shared position between the city and county. The Bicycle Friendly Durango Task Force hopes to work closely with the new Multi-Modal Transportation Director to improve infrastructure, promote collaboration between law enforcement and increase public education on biking laws and policies. The designation of a Bicycle Friendly Community is given to communities that actively support bicycling. A BFC provides safe accommodation for cyclists and encourages its residents to bike for transportation and recreation. Let’s rise to the occasion of our designation as a Silver BFC and do all we can to create a truly Bicycle Friendly Durango. Mary Oswald organized and chaired the Bicycle Friendly Durango Task Force and is the owner and operator of San Juan Hand Therapy. Mary she can be contacted for additional information about Bicycle Friendly Community issues at: oswald@bresnan.net |
