Cincinnati Bike Plan Update Proposed

City Manager Milton Dohoney's proposed budget for 2009/2010 includes $350,000 for updating the Citywide Bicycle Plan. The City's Department of Transportation and Engineering (DOTE), the main agency responsible for bicycling matters in the city, recommended the plan update in its projects for next year.

Cincinnati-area cyclists should take heart that not only are there more of us on the streets, but that we are increasingly being heard. An update of the plan was one of the needs identified by area bicyclists who testified at an October 22nd hearing of City Council's Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee.

That hearing highlighted the need to place a higher priority on bicycles as part of a multimodal transportation system that would enhance the quality of life in the city and deliver significant environmental benefits.

Among the other needs mentioned by bicyclists and allies at the hearing were:

• Making on-street infrastructure improvements such as bike lanes and sharrows;
• Providing safe routes to bicycle to school for children;
  
• Commuting/recreational bike trails in the Mill Creek Valley and serving the West Side;
• Reducing the impact of I75 as a barrier to East-West bicycle travel;
• Driver education to increase safety.

The proposal to update the Citywide Bicycle Plan must still be reviewed by Mayor Mark Mallory and approved by City Council in December as part of the City budget process. If approved, this would be the first time the City's Bicycle Plan has been updated since 1976.