Schaumburg honored for its bicycling initiatives
The Village of Schaumburg has received a Bronze Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) designation from the League of American Bicyclists for its continued commitment to improve bicycling through policies, infrastructure and programs.
Schaumburg was the first community in Illinois recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as a Bicycle Friendly Community in 1999, and has been a Bronze-level BFC since 2003.
Schaumburg's recertification as a Bronze level community includes the village in a leading group of communities across the U.S. that is transforming neighborhoods to make bicycling a safe and convenient option for transportation and recreation.
"The village is pleased to receive this distinction once again for our continued investment and commitment to provide safe bicycling options throughout Schaumburg," said Director of Transportation Karyn Robles.
"The village has always been a champion of bicycling, and this designation recognizes Schaumburg's long-standing and ongoing efforts to improve upon our bicycle infrastructure and programming for the community."
The Bronze BFC award recognizes Schaumburg's commitment to improving conditions for bicycling through investment in promotion, education programs, infrastructure and pro-bicycling policies.
The BFC program provides a benchmark for communities to evaluate these conditions and policies, while highlighting areas for improvement. The national scope of the program also promotes competition and comparison between communities.
Schaumburg has more than 95 miles of bike path and 1,000 bike parking racks and locker spaces. In 2019, the village completed construction of the Roselle Road Bike Path Bridge project, which provided additional safe connectivity to existing bike paths.
Construction included providing a new path on the west side of Roselle Road from Hillcrest Boulevard, along with a bridge over Central Road connecting users to an existing bike path in the Paul Douglas Forest Preserve at the northwest corner of Roselle and Central roads.
Construction is currently underway on the Higgins Road Bike Path, which is adding a segment of roughly .23 miles of new path on the north side of Higgins Road, from Lifetime Fitness, 900 E. Higgins Road, to the village limits between Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates.
For years, the village has hosted annual biking events, such as the Fahrrad Tour von Schaumburg and Bike to Work Week, to encourage biking.
Due to the pandemic, this year's Bike Month events were moved to September. Bike Month activities for 2020 included the inaugural Enjoy Schaumburg by Bike Photo Challenge and the second annual Business Bike Classic, which had 76 competitors from 19 different teams representing eight Schaumburg businesses and organizations.
"I'm proud that Schaumburg has remained a Bicycle Friendly Community for so many years, and for the role our Bikeways Advisory Committee and others have played in maintaining this important distinction in the village," said village President Tom Dailly.
"A strong bicycling infrastructure encourages positive health and environmental choices, as well as provides multimodal transportation opportunities for the public. Bicycling is also one of the many amenities that makes Schaumburg such a great place for individuals and families to enjoy."
The village is also a member of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning's Bike and Pedestrian Task Force and the Northwest Municipal Bicycle Committee, both of which focus on advancing bicycle advocacy in the village and neighboring communities.
For information on bicycling in Schaumburg, visit the village's website at schaumburg.com/biking.
The BFC program provides a road map to building a Bicycle Friendly Community, and the application itself has become a rigorous and educational tool. Since its inception, more than 800 distinct communities have applied and the five levels of the award - diamond, platinum, gold, silver and bronze - provide a clear incentive for communities to continuously improve.
There are 485 communities currently recognized with a BFC designation for their efforts to improve bicycling.
For information on the American League of Bicyclists and Bicycle Friendly America, visit bikeleague.org/community.
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