Agency Seeks Input on Regional Bike Plan

Lynn Loudermilk bikes the 25-mile round-trip commute from his home to Purina two or three times a week. When he first started riding, he had to choose his route carefully to avoid heavy traffic. But it's easier now, he said.

“A lot of roads are marked for bikes,” Loudermilk said. “There are bike lanes even on a portion of Grand Boulevard."

He hopes a new plan can help make his bike commute even easier. Loudermilk was among those who attended the Great Rivers Greenway open house at the on Tuesday.

The event was the first in a series of open houses by Great Rivers Greenway that allows St. Louis area residents a chance to weigh in on the agency’s large scale, long-range regional bicycle plan to enhance on-road connectivity in the region throughout the next 20 years.

Todd Antoine, deputy director of Great Rivers Greenway, said the plan’s goal is to create safer routes for bicyclists and increase the use of bicycles for transportation. He said in addition to making roads safer for cycling, the plan includes educating bicyclists and motorists to share the road with each other.

John Cozad commutes daily by bike from his home in south St. Louis to his job at . "Every major metropolis knows the value of non-automotive transportation," he said.

He thinks the plan is a step in the right direction for St. Louis. He came from the East Coast, where he said cities are more bicycle friendly.

Being bicycle friendly doesn’t need to cost more money, Paul Wojciechowski, vice president and St. Louis area manager for CH2M HILL, said. The St. Louis office of the engineering firm involved is based in Brentwood.

“It could be simply striping the road differently. (If) they’re going to restripe a road, striping is already involved in the project cost anyway," he said.

For projects with additional expenses—say for a raised bicycle lane—he said the plan can help direct municipalities to funding sources such as grants and low-interest loans for bicycle projects.

Other open houses on the regional bicycling plan will be from 4:30 - 7 p.m. at the following locations:

• Tuesday — University of Missouri-St. Louis Millennium Student Center
• Thursday — , 1 St. Peters Centre Blvd.

At the meetings, residents can learn about existing routes in their communities, view maps, comment on the proposed network of regional on-road routes and review what it will take to implement the system.