Hello West Virginia Bike/Pedestrian and Community Development professionals, advocates, and enthusiasts,
As some of you may know, the League of American Bicyclists released its 2017 Bicycle Friendly State rankings earlier this month. West Virginia received its highest ranking ever at 37th Place! Some of us got the inside scoop at the 2017 West Virginia Bike Summit, but the official release also included WV’s state report card with detailed feedback on how we can continue to make improvements.
In every state’s report card, the league included five Bike Friendly “Actions”:
- a complete streets law or policy
- a safe passing law
- a statewide bike plan within the last 10 years
- 2% or more of federal funds being spent on bike and pedestrian improvements
- an emphasis on bicycle safety
These Actions, previously called “Signs of Success”, indicate successful efforts of groups within the state to improve bicycle safety and mobility, be it legislative, agency, or advocacy. While West Virginia was able to check off three of these actions, two of them remain empty. In the League’s feedback, they make it very clear that having all five actions, and improving the ones we already have begun, are necessary steps for improvement. If you are not familiar, please take the time to look at the great information on the League’s Bicycle Friendly America website and their Guide to the Bicycle Friendly State Report Cards.
West Virginia has made some big steps in the past few years, but much can be done to continue to improve. While we remain in the middle of the pack with many of our rankings and statistics, we fall way behind on others. Thanks to each of you, grass-roots efforts in our communities are growing in strength. Active Southern West Virginia wants to do our part to keep up the momentum and work with all of you to keep West Virginia moving up in the rankings.
I’m reaching out to you for assistance with a project that Active Southern West Virginia continues to work on called the How-to Guide for Bike/Walk Communities in Southern West Virginia. This manual will be a guide for individuals and groups in southern West Virginia who want to help organize improvements to the safety and accessibility of bike and pedestrian accommodations in their communities. In addition to step-by-step instructions for projects and initiatives, we also want to include examples from across the state of what is already being done.
How You Can Help
Could each of you please share photos and information about successful projects that have taken place in your community, county or region? We hope to include these in our manual as “homegrown” examples of how things can be done.
Examples might include:
- Bike Racks
- Bike Lanes
- Share the Road Signs
- Shared Lane Markings
- Sidewalk Improvements
- Wayfinding and City Maps
- Bike Repair Stations
- Open Streets Events
- Group Bicycle Rides
- Multimodal Transportation Improvements
- Bike Safety Education materials and events
We also want to include the story of how these projects came to be. So if you can provide a narrative of the people involved and the steps taken we would like to tell those stories.
Please forward this blog to any other folks that you think may be able to help provide photos and stories of bike/ped efforts in West Virginia!
Sincerely,
Andy Davis
Pedestrian, Bike and Trail Coordinator for Active Southern West Virginia
(304) 254-8488
