Making Elgin more bike-friendly

Making Elgin more bike-friendly

Last December, Elgin resident Jessica Bahena’s letter, “More bike paths for Elgin’s safety, health” was published. As someone who is interested in the point made by Ms. Bahena, I felt the need to respond and publicly thank her for expressing her concern and interest regarding the work being done to make Elgin a more pedestrian- and bike-friendly city.

The Elgin Bike Pedestrian Advisory Committee is an all-volunteer group working consistently to address the concern expressed by Ms. Bahena, as well as numerous other areas of interest, including:

Ÿ Securing of a grant for bike racks in downtown business district and planning groundwork for installation of the racks.

Ÿ Participation in an ongoing, citywide sidewalk gap and transit analysis (transit stops, pedestrian crossings, complete, safe sidewalks, etc.)

Ÿ Implementation and update of the bikeway master plan.

Ÿ Drafting of a complete streets policy for city council consideration.

Ÿ Planning and coordination of Bike-Walk-Move: Elgin Week (formerly Bike to Work Week).

Ÿ Application for a walk-friendly community designation.

Ÿ Drafting of a pedestrian safety designation policy for city council consideration.

All Elgin residents are encouraged to involve themselves and contribute to a safer, more pedestrian- and bicycle-oriented city, a city where streets are shared by all, regardless of vehicle size or lack thereof. The more voices (and faces) associated with these ideals the better. Elgin is a wonderful city, one which is poised to improve in many areas, including this one.

Public meetings are held at 6 p.m. the first Tuesday of every month at the Centre of Elgin. For information, see

http://www.cityofelgin.org/index.aspx?nid=885.

Darin Anderson

Elgin Bike Pedestrian Advisory Committee