Cleveland to add 70 miles of bikeways over next four years

CLEVELAND - The city of Cleveland is set to announce more than 70
miles of bikeways will be added by the end of 2017 as part of the new
Bikeway Implementation Plan.

The plan will be unveiled to the public at Bike Cleveland's annual
meeting this Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Beachland Ballroom 15711 Waterloo
Road in Cleveland.

RELATED: Cincy Bike Share planners need more funds to roll out service

According to figures released by the city Friday evening, Cleveland
currently has 47.5 miles of bikeway, including: 3.71 miles of roads
with sharrows, 10.33 miles of bike lanes and 34.6 miles of trails.

That figure would jump to 118 miles by the end of 2017.

The bikeway additions are part of Mayor Frank Jackson's Sustainable
Cleveland 2019 and Healthy Cleveland initiatives which encourage
active living, quality of life and thriving neighborhoods.

“I am excited that we will be connecting every neighborhood to a
bikeway network,” said Jenita McGowan, Cleveland's Chief of
Sustainability. “We have seen a 200 percent increase in the number of
cyclists in the city since 2007 and this plan will help meet the new
demands for bike infrastructure.”

The city's announcement warms a slightly frosty relationship between
Cleveland and its cycling community. Bike lanes on Detroit Avenue took
longer to materialize than promised, which had cyclists put
unauthorized striping of their own on the west side roadway. The city
put real lanes in place last fall.

The Detroit Avenue lanes will now join a network of cycling routes
that will grow by 250 percent.

“This plan is exciting because it prioritizes a network of connected
bikeways across the city of Cleveland," said Bike Cleveland Executive
Director Jacob VanSickle”. “We look forward to working with the City
of Cleveland and residents on identifying which types of bicycle
facilities are installed on the priority routes."

In 2014 and 2015, the miles of bikeways in the city will nearly double
with the addition of 44.8 miles of bikeways.

Cleveland has identified an additional 82.5 miles of roadway, above
and beyond the plan, that could be eligible for cycling amenities
based on road conditions and traffic patterns. The budget has $1
million for thermoplastic paint to re-stripe these streets. This means
that by the end of 2018, the city could have 200 miles of bikeway
network.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/state/state...ext-four-years

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