CITY COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM

Department:	Planning and Development Services		Commission Meeting Date: Dec 6, 2016
Staff Contact:	Jessica Mortinger, Senior Transportation Planner
Recommendations/Options/Action Requested:
Accept the Fall 2016 Bicycle Friendly Community Bronze Award.
Executive Summary:		The City of Lawrence has been honored again as a Bronze Rank Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC). The City first received this designation in 2004 from the American League of Bicyclists. There are now 404 communities recognized in the U.S. as Bicycle Friendly Communities; this is Lawrence’s fifth successful application. The Bronze level BFC award recognizes Lawrence’s commitment to improving conditions for bicycling through investment in bicycling promotion, education programs, infrastructure and pro-bicycling policies. The BFC program also provides a roadmap to improve conditions for bicycling and the guidance to make your distinct vision for a better, bikeable community a reality. Lawrence-Douglas County Bicycle Advisory Committee members prepared the application utilizing information, such as data collected from bike/pedestrian counts, safety material, outreach efforts, and lane mileage. This year’s application featured Lawrence’s completion of a number of projects that will eventually form the “Lawrence Loop”, a 22-mile paved off-street path around the city, the bicycle education provided by Lawrence’s League Certified Cycling instructors, the on-bicycle safety education at local elementary schools, and the recent commitment in the city budget for bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure improvements.  The Lawrence Central Rotary Club’s Community Bike Ride, Safe Kids Douglas County Bicycle Rodeo and Helmet giveaways, the Tour of Lawrence, the Lawrence Mountain Bicycle Club’s partnership with Parks & Recreation for the development and maintenance of the Lawrence River Trails trail, the National Bicycle Challenge, and 100 percentage of buses equipped with bike racks were also highlighted as part of the application process.
Strategic Goal Area:		Non-motorized Transportation/Transit
Fiscal Impact (Amount/Source):		The fiscal impact to the City is none.
Attachments:		The BFC report card and resource on reading the document is available at https://assets.lawrenceks.org/assets/mpo/bicycle/2016BikeFeedback.pdf

Reviewed By: (for CMO use only)

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