Norman’s bid to be named a “biker-friendly” city was denied by the League of American Bicyclists, and nobody in the city knows why.
Amy Cerato, a member of Norman’s Bicycle Advisory Committee which aids the city council on bike decisions, said the title is awarded to communities for placing biker issues high on their “To Do” lists.
To find out why Norman was denied the title, the committee contacted the league for a more detailed answer but has not received a response.
“We are a very vehicle-centric area,” Cerato said. “We just have to work on making it a better environment for bikers, because right now it’s not fantastic — in fact it’s pretty dangerous.”
Cerato said Norman applied for bronze status, the lowest level of recognition. The title could be refused for something as simple as an application error, she said.
Elizabeth Kiker, director of communications for the league, said every community that applies is given feedback for improvement.
“We just don’t have a policy of not giving feedback,” she said.
To maintain an encouraging environment, it is against the league’s policy to confirm or deny if a city applied, Kiker said. She also said she could not say why Norman was not deemed “biker-friendly.”
Currently, there are no communities in Oklahoma that hold the league’s “biker-friendly” status.
Norman officials said this lack of recognition is not thwarting their bicycle plans, which include building a bicycle and pedestrian path along State Highway 9 while the roadway is under construction for widening.
The city has run into some resistance, however, from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
Angelo Lombardo, a transportation engineer for Norman, said the city wanted to construct a bicycle path, but ODOT was in favor of accommodating cyclists by building a wider shoulder along the road.
Lombardo said the city requested that ODOT modify its design because of concerns a lane would receive limited use by bikers because it would run side-by-side with high-speed traffic. Lombardo said a path would provide a safer facility for everyone.
“Different kinds of bicyclists need different kinds of transportation measures, and putting a bike lane on a 60 mile per hour highway that has debris in the shoulder and cars using the shoulder as turning lanes is quite dangerous,” Cerato said.
He said there are many cyclists who bike on the shoulder of the highway, but if the city wants families with children to ride, it needs to build a path.
David Meuser, public information officer for ODOT, said the department proposed a lane because it thought some cyclists would rather have a lane than share a path with pedestrians.
Meuser said the department received a resolution from Norman a week ago that details the vision for the highway. He said this resolution includes a multi-modal path, which provides access to pedestrians and cyclists.
“We’re reviewing the resolution and digesting it, but it’s a positive step forward,” Meuser said.
The city plans on paying for the path with grant money received from ODOT’s special projects division, which allocates money toward projects like bike paths, Lombardo said.
Meuser said the grant allocates $12 million to transportation projects every other year, and Norman applied for $750,000.
Lombardo said the city plans to use the grant money to pave the path and let ODOT handle the design and grading.
Meuser said ODOT is unsure how much the project will cost and does not know when construction will begin. Construction costs have increased sharply, and he said ODOT is surveying the surrounding area to see how it would be affected by reconstruction of the highway. Meuser said the study has been ongoing for several years.
“We don’t know how long it will take to finish the environmental and design process, so we don’t know how much it’s going to cost and that means we don’t know when construction will begin,” Meuser said. “We’re a number of years off.”
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Julio_G_Atlas 3 years, 6 months ago
As reported by this story, Norman is NOT YET a bicycle friendly city by any means. You are still in the planning stages of creating but ONE facility to improve the cycling climate there. Talk is cheap, it is action that matters. Build your path, and then apply again. But don't be surprised if a SINGLE bike path is just not enough to be considered a bicycle friendly CITY. Look at what is being done in towns like Seattle, Portland, San Diego and Chicago. The point is to be able to get around safely by bicycle almost anywhere in town. Look at ALL of your streets as you plan.