Bicycling Master Plan Seeks Public Comment

Bike Providence - A Bicycling Master Plan for Providence

Mayor Angel Taveras, the Providence Department of Planning and Development, the Providence Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission, and consultants VHB, Inc. are working to expand the
bicycle network in Providence.

Please provide your input at www.vhb.com/bikeprovidence. For more information, contact Dave Everett at (401) 680-8520.

Resources on the website will include:

• Update of current Bike Network Phase I routes since 2006 implementation.
• On-going projects for improvements to the bike network.
• Outline of new bikeway design Standards & Guidelines - New Tools.
• Identification of network gaps and network deficiencies.
• Coordination with proposed City roadway resurfacing program.
• Initial list of Phase II Bike Network improvements.
• Rollout bike routing tracking smart phone app.
• Opportunities for Education and Encouragement initiatives.

Background

The majority of the city's original bike plan developed in the early 2000's focused on signing and striping bike corridors throughout the city, and was implemented in 2007 and 2008. The final piece of the original plan was completed in Fall 2011 with the striping of bike lanes on Broadway.

A new bicycling master plan will allow the City to create a long term plan for bicycling in the city using the four E's of bicycle planning: engineering (and planning), education, encouragement, and enforcement. A bike plan can no longer be solely about signing and striping bike lanes and bike routes. Bicycle infrastructure must be planned and developed in concert with education programs about the rules of the road, encouragement to promote biking as a safe, healthy, environmentally friendly, and economical choice for transportation, and increased enforcement by local agencies of violations by both motorists and bicyclists. The Master Plan will guide the investment of future funding into the City bicycle network through a program of recommended short, medium, and long-term capital improvements suitable for inclusion into the State of Rhode Island Transportation Improvement Program. This project is funded by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and the Rhode Island Division of Planning Challenge Grant.

This project is critically important to the future economic viability and quality of life in Providence. It will reach across all modes of transportation (bus, rail, bike, pedestrian, auto, etc.) and seek to develop a prioritized plan of on- and off-road bicycling improvements in order to develop and implement a citywide bicycling network. Issues such as gaps in the existing network, connectivity to residential, employment and multimodal centers, and coordination of planned and future bicycling improvements will be evaluated.