Geneva searching for ways to make the city more bicycle-friendly
Riding a bicycle in Geneva can be a challenge, as some bike lanes and paths just end with no direction as to where to go next, or riders don't feel safe traversing some areas designated for bicycles.
The city's Strategic Plan Advisory Committee presented a report Monday night in a joint meeting with the city council's committee of the whole, detailing issues with bike-riding and how they could be addressed.
Geneva adopted a bike plan in 2005, but committee Chair Winnie Frankel said Batavia, St. Charles and Kane County have newer plans that they're already in the process of updating.
"In the strategic plan ... part of our vision for the city of Geneva in 2025 is that residents and visitors benefit from efforts to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety that enhance access to civic and cultural amenities," Frankel said.
Advisory committee member Melanie Mannon said the city already has signed on to a number of biking initiatives.
"We know that people want improved biking in the city and we know that the city has already had some work done on it," she said.
"There's still a lot of issues with the city not being connected. There will be some areas where there's lot of bike lanes and bike paths and you can get from one place to another - and then it ends. Or maybe an area that's supposed to be a recommended bikeway but there's no area to bike," Mannon added.
Bicyclists also can ride in the street, but Mannon said it's not safe.
"Many do not feel safe biking in Geneva," she said.
The top things the city could do to be more bike-friendly is increase visibility, install bike safety signage, add pavement markings and bridge the gaps in connections, Mannon said.
Those who attended a committee event this summer indicated they do not feel safe riding on the designated bike route near Fabyan Forest Preserve and in the area between Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital and Geneva Commons.
"All those neighborhoods could be biking to the Commons, but they don't really feel safe doing it," Mannon said.
Committee member Jim Kafer recommended re-establishing the city's Bike and Pedestrian Committee.
"This is a group that could act as a liaison between the city and the community to promote and enhance bike and pedestrian safety," Kafer said.
A longer-term plan would be updating the 2005 bike plan, Kafer said.
"Most of it comes around to a feeling on our part that the city needs to look at the establishment of a complete streets policy," Kafer said. "What it means is you put together a comprehensive plan that encompasses pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, bus transportation - the whole gamut. And by doing it in a comprehensive way, it should all flow in the same direction which should make it more workable and acceptable."