Des Moines - on it's way to be a Bicycle Friendly Community!

Posted Dec 15, 2007
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On Monday, Dec. 17, the Des Moines City Council unanimously voted in favor of the Bike Friendly Community Goals including plans for a $100,000 bike master plan.

[Updated Monday, Dec 17th 8:30 pm] The Des Moines City Council unanimously voted in favor of the Bike Friendly Community Goals this evening. This vote seals the significant commitment needed from the City of Des Moines and the bicycle community. The ultimate goal is that the City of Des Moines be recognized as a “Bronze Level” Bicycle Friendly Community in 2009 and “Silver Level” Bicycle Friendly Community in 2012. Stay tuned... much more to come! Below is the original plea for help from the bicycle community to send emails of support plus plenty of information on BFCs. On Monday, Dec. 17, the Des Moines City Council will vote on Bike Friendly Community Goals including plans for a $100,000 bike master plan.

This could be GREAT NEWS for Des Moines but we need YOUR help to make it happen! If you live in Des Moines, we need you to email your city council member with encouraging words in support of these recommendations. Live near Des Moines? you can still send your email of support. PLEASE DO NOT DELAY. the vote will take place at approx 4:30 pm! Don't know your council member? No problem? find them here to find out. Here are the emails if you know. Mayor Frank Cownie - fcownie@dmgov.org Tom Vlassis - tdvlassis@ci.des-moines.ia.us ; Vlassis2@mchsi.com Bob Mahaffey - Mahafb@AEDairy.com Chris Hensley -hensley2@mchsi.com Brian Meyer - bjmeyer@dmgov.org At-large Chris Coleman - ColemanSeven@mchsi.com ; ccoleman@dm.bbb.org ; ccoleman@dmgov.org Michael Kiernan - mjkiernan@dmgov.org

What is the Bicycle Friendly Community Campaign? The Bicycle Friendly Community Campaign is an awards program that recognizes municipalities that actively support bicycling. A Bicycle-Friendly Community provides safe accommodation for cycling and encourages its residents to bike for transportation and recreation. The League of American Bicyclists administers the Bicycle Friendly Community Campaign.

Q: Is Des Moines already a Bicycle Friendly Community? A: No, Des Moines applied for a Bicycle Friendly Community designation in early 2006 through the League of American Bicyclists, but was turned down for lack of facilities, planning, training, etc. This was a good thing because members of the Polk County Trails and Greenways (TAG) Committee took all the shortfalls and recommendations the League gave as feedback and they created a document called "Goals to Make Des Moines a Bicycle Friendly Community". This document is what will be voted on by the Des Moines City Council on Monday, Dec 17th. You can review this document further down in this feature.

Q:Is any city in Iowa a Bicycle Friendly Community? A: Currently there are no cities in Iowa that have been designated as bicycle friendly communities. The League of American Bicyclists has given about 60 cities its Bicycle Friendly Community Award out of about 200 applications it has received, said Andy Clarke, executive director of the league, a national organization that promotes bicycling for fun, fitness, transportation and work through advocacy education. The Bicycle Friendly Community has four award levels: Platinum, gold, silver and bronze. The award is based on five criteria — engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation and planning — and lasts for two years.

Ways Des Moines has been becoming a Bicycle Friendly Community

DM pedals way toward bike-friendly recognition (posted 7/29/2007)
Des Moines gains LCI Certification (posted 10/7/2007)
MTA’s New Bike & Ride Program (posted 9/27/2007)
Des Moines City Council adopts Bicycle Friendly goals on October 23, 2006 (no news item posted)
Des Moines' First Official Bike Lanes (posted 11/20/2006)
Bike Racks on Des Moines Buses (posted 4/15/2005)

Find out more about Bicycle Friendly Communities

"Goals to Make Des Moines a Bicycle Friendly Community" Trails and Greenways Advisory Committee Des Moines Park and Recreation Board March 2007 In March of 2006 the City of Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department submitted an application to the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) for consideration of the City of Des Moines as a Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC). A Bicycle-Friendly Community provides safe accommodation for cycling and encourages its residents to bike for transportation and recreation. The League of American Bicyclists administers the Bicycle Friendly Community Campaign. The City’s Bicycle and Trails Advisory Committee, an advisory committee to the Des Moines Park Board, completed the City of Des Moines application. Des Moines was not selected as a Bicycle Friendly Community in 2006, but reviewers from the LAB hoped that the application marked a commitment on behalf of the City of Des Moines to make Des Moines more bicycle friendly. The reviewers encouraged Des Moines to work implement more on-street facilities, to connect the network of off and on-street facilities. The BFC reviewers encouraged Des Moines to expand its education, enforcement, encouragement and evaluation efforts in order to be considered a Bicycle Friendly Community in the future. Based on the feedback received from the BFC program, the City of Des Moines and Polk County Conservation Board Trails and Greenways Advisory Committee (TAG) created the following goals to guide Des Moines towards becoming a Bicycle Friendly Community. Gaining BFC status will help Des Moines become and more bicycle friendly community and also helps to achieve several of the City of Des Moines goals as adopted by the Des Moines City Council on October 23, 2006. Suggested Goals for Improvement to Make Des Moines a Bicycle Friendly Community fall into the following categories, based on the feedback from the Bicycle Friendly Community Program: Training for City Staff in Bicycle Facility Design
Trail Network Improvements
Bicycle Network Improvements
Bicycle Education for Users and Automobile Drivers
Bicycle Parking
Safe Routes to School Program
The ultimate goal is that the City of Des Moines be recognized as a “Bronze Level” Bicycle Friendly Community in 2009 and “Silver Level” Bicycle Friendly Community in 2012. Achieving these goals will be challenging and require significant commitment from the City of Des Moines and the bicycle community. Training for City Staff in Bicycle Facility Design – Training would be used to bring City staff up to date on the latest techniques for providing safe design of bicycle facilities and off-street trails.

Iowa Bicycle Summit –
- The Iowa Department of Transportation and the Iowa Bicycle Coalition hold an Iowa Bicycle Summit each February.
- It is recommended that the City plan for at least one engineer and a member of the Traffic and Transportation Department attend the Bicycle Summit training each year.
- Costs per person to attend the bicycle summit, which is usually held in Des Moines, average $100.
Association Memberships –
- It is recommended that the City Engineering Department and the Parks and Recreation Department join the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals or another related association to keep update date on the newest and best bicycle solutions.
- Annual memberships to this association are $76 per person when 5 or more join. It is recommended that 5 persons join this association for an annual cost of $380.
- Attendance at the annual APBP meeting and at least one regional meeting

Trail Network Improvements – These improvements are funded though the City’s CIP budget, grants, and private funding and are approved by the City Council in the City’s 6-year CIP budget. The following trails are planned for construction in the City’s approved CIP budget and will provide key links to providing a connected network of off street trails. This is key in encouraging people to try bicycling as an accepted for of transportation.

Connect downtown Des Moines to the Clive Greenbelt Trail – This has been budgeted and will be completed in 2008. The Bill Riley Trail will be connected to the Meredith Trail and the Walnut Creek Trail will be connected to the Bill Riley Trail. When completed this will create a continuous path from Jefferson Iowa to downtown Des Moines. It will also be a popular commuter path for bicyclists.
Connect downtown Des Moines to the Cownie Soccer Complex. This trail will follow the south side of the Des Moines River and connect several of the neighborhoods on the south side to the City’s trail network. Future trail segments will connect this trail to the rapidly developing Easter Lake area.
Connect Des Moines’ west side neighborhoods to the trail system through the Waveland Trail. This trail includes several segments of trail that will connect many citizens to the trail system. This trail system starts in the Waterbury Neighborhood and will connect neighborhoods in the vicinity of Waveland Golf Course and Glendale Cemetery to the trail system.

Bicycle Network Improvements: The goal is to continue to expand the bicycle network and connectivity with on-street as well as off-street improvements. The trail system is developing well, but on-street connections and access are critical needs for every-day cycling.

Adopt “Complete Streets” policy approved by the Bike-Pedestrian Roundtable of the Metropolitan Planning Organization
Create a Bicycle Master Plan for the City of Des Moines – Cost is estimated to be $100,00 to hire a consultant to complete a plan.
Sign and stripe 25 miles of bicycle lanes – Costs are estimated to be $5,000 per block where the street needs to be re-stripped for signage, stripping and removal of existing lanes stripes.
Sign 100 miles of bike routes – Costs are estimated to be approximately $400 per mile and are programmed in the FY08 City CIP budget.
Erect 80 signs (40 pairs) of “TRAIL ACCESS” signs, directing cyclists from primary arterial streets to trails - Total costs are estimated to be $4,000 and are budgeted in the FY08 CIP budget.
Complete a three-year trail signage program for Des Moines Parks and Recreation, using the Central Iowa Trails Communication Master Plan – Total costs are estimated to be $400,000 over 3 years in the FY07-FY09 City CIP budgets
Complete an E911 signage system for all trails – Total costs are estimated to be $20,000 for implementation and are programmed in the FY08 CIP budget.
At intersections along bike routes or those with bicycle lanes and those with new or upgraded demand-actuated traffic signals, install Inductive-loop traffic detector systems, which detect the presence of bicycles, or mark the most sensitive location on the loop detector systems to assist bicyclists in triggering the lights. This technology is in place in other cities, including Bakersfield, California, and several North Carolina communities.

Bicycle Safety Education for Users and Automobile Drivers – Many of the activities will require the help of entities other than the City of Des Moines. Some of the entities that may be involved include the Iowa Department of Transportation, the Iowa Bicycle Coalition and dedicated citizens interested in improving bicycling in the City.

Host Enforcement for Bicycle Safety seminar: http://www.bicyclefriendlycommunity.org/popup/enforcement.htm. This is a great two-day continuing education opportunity for law enforcement. The nearest regular training is in Wisconsin.
Host a League of American Bicyclists certified instruction (LCI) seminar to train local instructors. Local LCI staff will enable the community to work on Safe Routes to School, bring motorist education to drivers, and have an expert to assist in encouragement programs for adult and children.
Expand motorist education and Share the Road encouragement programs by creating informational handouts for drivers and cyclists. Use valuable information from the League’s Ride Better Tips in outreach education and encouragement efforts. See the Ride Better Tips pages at: http://www.bikeleague.org/resources/better/index.php
Distribute Ride Better brochures at driver’s license stations, driver’s education classes and other outlets. – Costs will depend on the number of brochures needed.
Create a Share the Road Public Service Announcement to be played on the City’s television station.
Expand Bike to Work Week and Mayor’s Annual Ride (MAR) with more corporate involvement Costs involved will be finding more sponsorships to help increase the size and visibility of each event.
Host a Bicycle Friendly Community workshop in Des Moines– Costs to host this workshop are unknown but estimated to be $2,000. This four -training will help Des Moines:
- Access the conditions of bicycling in the community
- Provide an introduction of issues affecting bicycle safety and use
- Create an informed action plan to improve conditions for bicycling
- Encourage physical activity through bicycling in the community http://www.bicyclefriendlycommunity.org/WorkshopMaterials.htm.

Bicycle Parking: The goal is to create secure bicycle parking throughout the community making it easy, safe, convenient and friendly to ride and park a bicycle in Des Moines.

Establish a Guide to Bicycle Parking (model after Denver Regional Governments), which spells out recommended bike racks.

Add 200 U-shaped bike racks in Des Moines during year in 2008 at cycling destinations, including government and school buildings, retail districts – Costs are estimated to be $20,000.

Add 150 U-shaped bike racks in the City each successive year – Costs are estimated to be $15,000 per year.

Total installed bicycle racks in the City should be 1,000 in the City by 2011

Create and Adopt a Bicycle Parking Ordinance (model: Denver Regional Governments) that could include some of the following elements:

In parking garages, require developers to provide one inverted “U” bike rack for every 40 automobile parking spaces. In 2008, install commuter bike racks in each city garage (One rack per 40 auto spaces, if current space allows). Model: Liberty Bike Commuter Station (6th Ave and Grand Ave).
Allow for reduction in car parking spaces when additional bicycle parking is supplied, providing an economic incentive to the developer/property owner to supply ample bicycle parking. (The City and County of Denver allows a reduction of one auto parking space for every six bicycle spaces provided.)
In the proposed parking garage east of City Hall, include showers and bike lockers for bicycle commuters (model: McDonald’s Cycling Center in Chicago’s Millennium Park)

Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS): Over the past two to three decades, there has been an incredible rise in obesity and physical inactivity in kids and adults. The impact on health and health-care costs is high and will continue to rise dramatically. In 1969, roughly half of all kids walked or biked to school. Now, it’s about 15 percent. For school trips less than one mile, 29 percent walk or bike. There is a strong correlation between communities with good bicycle and pedestrian environments, and having more active residents. Air quality and traffic congestion around schools has also become an issue. SRTS is a rising international effort to increase safety and promote walking and bicycling to school through the “5 Es”: engineering, education, enforcement, encouragement, and evaluation. The 2005 SAFETEA-LU federal transportation bill included a new SRTS federal funding source of $612 million over five years for both infrastructure and non-infrastructure reimbursement grants.

Review and update as necessary, "Manual for School Crossing Control." (1997)
With Traffic and Transportation, school staff, and parent representatives, review current Safe Routes to Schools plans for each of the elementary schools in Des Moines.
Through a SFTS grant awarded in 2007, conduct model bicycle rodeo for third graders at seven elementary schools: Capital View, Findley, Jackson, King, Longfellow, Oak Park and Willard. Students who participate will receive a bike helmet.
Through Safe Routes to School grant, install 10 countdown pedestrian crossings.
As funding provides, install continental (stripe) crossings at key school crossings.
Apply for future Safe Routes to School Grants to improve bike and walking at other elementary schools in Des Moines.

Proposed Bicycle Friendly Community Cost Summary

Thanks so much to Randy Damon, Pat, McClintock, Jeff Bock, members of the Trails and Greenways Advisory Committee, and others who originally pushed for the application of Bike Friendly Community status.