A bicycle parking post in Seattle, U.S.A.

Seattle cyclists to get safer routes

Seattle (Washington, U.S.A.) will soon release the final draft of its Bicycle Master Plan for public comment.

A major thrust of the 10-year strategy is a call to designate more than 322 kilometres (200 miles) of roadway as bicycle lanes, along with guidelines for safely sharing roads and trails with cars and pedestrians. Regulations are also proposed that would require the city to consider how to accommodate cyclists when designing or rebuilding roads. While the city currently offers only 25 miles of designated bike lanes, the plan anticipates a huge increase in recreational and commuting cyclists.

City planners are hoping to encourage a three-fold increase in urban cycling over the next decade. Studies completed in Copenhagen (Denmark) have shown that as the number of cyclists increase, so does the safety for those riders.

Unique to the plan is the fact that it was mandated by the public. Part of a $US 360 million property tax levy that was passed in October 2006, the plan is therefore supported with funding for implementation.

When properly supported with bikeways, traffic signals that favour bicycles, and other infrastructure and policies that promote safe, efficient cycling, bicycles can carry a substantial share of the urban transport burden. For more information on bicycling and other alternative modes of transportation, please visit ICLEI’s Cities for Climate Protection^® Campaign at www.iclei.org/ccp.

Seattle is one of 93 local governments in the U.S.A. that are currently Members of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability. For more information on ICLEI and its activities in the U.S.A., please visit www.iclei.org/usa.

Source: “Cyclists soon to get safer routes”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 28 March 2007.

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