Iowa City progresses with bicycle master plan

BACKGROUND

IOWA CITY - The city announced a year ago it would begin the process of developing a bicycle master plan with the hopes of increasing both bicycle ridership and safety.

The plan also was meant to outline steps to bolster Iowa City's bicycle friendliness ranking from a silver to a gold award, which is given out by the League of American Bicyclists.

WHAT'S HAPPENED SINCE

The city and consultants held a public workshop last month to collect additional input on draft master plan ideas, which are published on the city's website. Sarah Walz, assistant transportation planner with the city, said community members were shown a proposed bicycle network and potential infrastructure improvements.

Walz said the consultant will now fine-tune the plan and help prioritize actions and ideas. Walz said she expects a plan to be submitted to the City Council in a July 18 work session.

'I think the things that are online, people can count on those things being part of the plan. There might be some tweaking of bike lanes and things like that, but essentially I would say that's 90 percent there,” Walz said. 'It's sort of fine tuning at this point and then taking a look at cost.”

Already published online is a facilities and bicycle network map as well as a document outlining various program and policy recommendations, which explores concepts like hiring a bicycle coordinator and creating a bike mentor program, among others.

The council chose Alta and RDG as the consultants for the plan. The council voted 7-0 to approve Alta's bid for the contract at $80,751.

Once the council receives the second draft of the plan, members will be able to choose how they want to move forward with recommendations and guidelines.

'Everything has a cost, so someone has to say ‘these are the things that come first' and while that will be reflected in the plan, the final stamp of approval, obviously, is the council,” Walz said.

While the plan still has yet to be finalized, cyclists should start to notice change yet this year. Walz said some bike lanes either have been or will be painted on roads like First Avenue.

She said, however, larger projects, something like a trail extension, would be separate projects that come farther down the road.

'I think the plan is great. I think one of the challenges going forward will be making sure that we commit to accomplishing the things that are in the plan,” said Brian Loring, founder of Think Bicycles of Johnson County. 'It's great to have a plan, but if you don't fund the plan it sits shelf and collects dust.”

l Comments: (319) 339-3172; maddy.arnold@thegazette.com