League of American Bicyclists names Iowa City a "Bicycle Friendly Community"
Posted: Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 1:19:17 PM
Signs will be posted in Iowa City, designating the city as a Bicycle-Friendly Community.
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The League of American Bicyclists announced Iowa City as one of its prestigious bronze-level Fall 2009 Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFC) today. "The League is proud to award Iowa City for its work to promote bicycle safety and education while encouraging bicycling in their community," said League President Andy Clarke. "The League congratulates Iowa City and all of our BFC winners for implementing successful, long-term bicycle plans that provide quality of life improvements for their citizens." The League is recognizing 15 new Bicycle Friendly Communities and three BFC renewals in its fall 2009 award cycle.
The BFC award recognizes Iowa City's commitment to improving conditions for bicycling and its practice of making focused investment in bicycling programs and facilities. The BFC judges were particularly impressed with Iowa City's adoption of the Metro Bicycle Master Plan and addition of bike lanes and shared-lane arrows. Clarke noted the impressive advances of all BFC applicants and said, "This round of applications had more communities in the east and Midwest than ever before that are investing wisely in bicycling - all areas of the U.S. are realizing the importance of bicycling."
Iowa City is a stand-out community in Iowa for their initiative and progress to become more bicycle friendly. The BFC's reviewers were impressed with the city's support of the Iowa City Bike Library and promotion of Bike to Work Week.
The application process to become a BFC is rigorous; currently only 124 of the 318 total applicants have a BFC four-year designation. The renewal process and four levels of the award - platinum, gold, silver and bronze - provide a clear incentive for communities to continuously improve. The new and expanded BFC program began at the League in 1995, and in the past 14 years it has evolved into the tool it is today - evaluating, recognizing and improving cities, states and businesses.
The BFC program is generously supported by program partners Bikes Belong and Trek's One World Two Wheels Campaign. Applicants complete a detailed on-line form with numerous questions in five key areas: engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation/planning. Local cyclists, national experts, and League staff review the applications.
To learn more about the League's Bicycle Friendly Community program, visit http://www.bicyclefriendlyamerica.org.
For More Information:
| Contact Person: | Kristopher Ackerson |
| Contact Number: | (319) 356-5247 |
| Contact Email: | kris-ackerson@iowa-city.org |
