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| Town's bicycle-friendly efforts recognized nationally |
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Arlington has received national recognition for the popular Minuteman Bikeway as well as the municipal bike-rack installation program and current plans to improve bicycling safety on Mass. Ave. in East Arlington and at the bikeway crossing in Arlington Center. The League of American Bicyclists in Washington, D.C., ranked the town at the bronze level as a bicycle-friendly community. "We are honored to receive this national award," Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine said in a news release Monday, May 14. "It’s great to see increasing activity and interest in bicycling in Arlington and beyond, and we thank the Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee (ABAC) for its dedication and efforts to improve local bicycling conditions and safety." ABAC completed and submitted the town's application for the honor in February, and the league announced the award this month, which is National Bike Month. The application process involved a comprehensive audit and review of Arlington’s engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation and planning efforts for bicycling. Arlington's application will serve as the foundation of an Arlington Bicycle Master Plan, which will help the Town evaluate current progress and future improvements. The designation will also make the town more competitive when applying for future transportation, tourism, and community safety grants. "The popularity of the program is clear evidence that investment in bicycling is a major catalyst in creating the kind of vibrant communities people want to live in, work, and visit," said League President Andy Clarke. "There are now 214 BFCs in 47 states across America. This award recognizes Arlington’s commitment to improving conditions for bicycling through investment in bicycling infrastructure, education programs and community outreach." The program provides a detailed framework, professional assistance and award recognition for communities that actively support bicycling. It offers a national roadmap for classifying and evaluating a bicycle-friendly community, and the application has become an educational tool in itself. Since the program's inception, more than 500 communities have applied for recognition, and the four levels of the award (platinum, gold, silver, and bronze) provide an incentive for communities to continuously improve. To learn more about the national BFC program, visit www.bikeleague.org/community. |
| Last Updated ( Monday, 14 May 2012 11:23 ) |
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Thanks for the news. Given the Minuteman path's age and success as one of the most heavily used in the whole country, I'm surprised Arlington had not been recognized sooner. Did it take taxpayer dollars for a town employee to do all the paperwork for this lobby to finally get noticed? If the work was from volunteers, ABAC could have applied long ago.
The award came from a lobby with nearly all of the judges from lobbies or financial interests. I question when tax dollars are spent to appeal to a lobby or promote a lobby. Its vital to note who awards come from, be it lobby, industry trade group, professional association, government or quasi government organization.
From their website, The League has 25,000 individual members, down from 102,000 in 1898 during a large bicycling boom. It has not operated continuously, last resuming in 1965 as a 20-year bike boom started. Fashion styles and booms come and go, often with some celebrity adopters.
Mark Kaepplein
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