Engineering Section

Do you have a policy that requires the accommodation of cyclists in all new road construction and reconstruction and resurfacing? Yes

Have you provided training for your engineers and planners on how to accommodate cyclists? Yes. Engineering, traffic engineering and planning staff attend conferences on a yearly basis. Several city planning and engineering staff have attended the past three bi-annual ProBike/ProWalk conferences and four LAB Bike Summits between 2000 and 2006. Training has also been provided through web conferences offered by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (Innovative Bike Designs), Transportation Research Board and American Planning Association (Complete Streets). City staff has also attended the FHWA Pedestrian and Bicycle Courses offered by the KY Transportation Cabinet and design courses offered at Northwestern University.

Is there a mechanism to provide training on an on-going basis? Yes

How many bridges are in your community? 60

How many are closed or inaccessible to cyclists? Bicycles are permitted on all bridges

Of those accessible by bike, how many have shoulders, bike lanes, wide curb lanes, or multi-use paths? Less than 10%

Do you have a bike parking ordinance? Yes

Are there bike racks or storage units at Schools? Most

Are there bike racks or storage units at Libraries? All

Are there bike racks or storage units at Transit Stations? All

Are there bike racks or storage units at Recreation Centers? All

Are there bike racks or storage units at Government Buildings? Most

Are there bike racks or storage units at Office Buildings? Some

Are there bike racks or storage units at Retail Centers? Some

Are there bike racks or storage units at Public Spaces and Parks? Most

If your community has transit service: Are buses equipped with bike racks? All

Can bikes be brought inside transit vehicles? Yes

How many miles of bike lanes do you have? 19

How many miles of bike lanes are in your bicycle master plan? 100

What is the mileage of your total road network? 1030

What percent of arterial streets have bike lanes or paved shoulders? 21

How many miles of designated bike routes do you have? 4

How many miles of signed bike routes are in your bicycle master plan? 0

Please describe any maintenance programs or policies that ensure bike lanes and shoulders remain usable. Routine maintainance: Bike lanes and paved shoulders are swept once every three to four weeks. Maintenance problems can be reported to the city by using the "LexCall" system (dialing 311 or at http://lexcall.lfucg.com/). A complaint form is also available on the city's bike page. Complaints are forwarded to street maintenance crews. Capital Improvements: There is no set policy. Decisions on whether capitol improvements may block bike lanes or shoulders are made on a case by case basis depending upon the scope of the project, traffic safety and the availability of alternative routes.

Please describe initiatives your community has taken to ensure or improve bicycle access, safety and convenience at intersections, including bicycle detection, signing and marking. Typical bike pavement markings are installed where bike lanes cross or terminate at intersections. Lexington has approximately 350 signalized intersections. Bike detection loops have not been installed at this time; however, there are 70 intersections with video detection devices, rather than loops, which can detect bicycles. In addition, all signals in the downtown area (approximately 25) change at regular intervals and do not require detection devices.

How many miles of paved or hard surface trails do you have? 20

How many miles of paved or hard surface trails are in your bicycle master plan? 100

How many miles of natural surface trails do you have? 15

How many miles of natural surface trails are open to mountain bikes? 6

What is the estimated acreage of open space and public lands within the community (city, county, state, and federal public lands)? 5700

Are these area open to cyclists? Most

Please describe any maintenance programs or policies for multi-use paths. Routine maintainance: Trails are maintained on a routine basis by seasonal crews and our Parks & Recreation Department. During peak mowing season, trails are visited by maintenance crews weekly or bi-weekly. Maintenance problems can be reported to the city by using the "LexCall" system (dialing 311 or at http://lexcall.lfucg.com/). A complaint form is also available on the city's bike page. Complaints are forwarded to appropriate city divisions. Capital Improvements: The city has not experienced any projects to date which have neccessitated the closure of a shared use trail.

Does your community have an ordinance or local code requirement for employers to provide bicycle parking, shower facilities, etc.? No

Describe recreational facilities for cyclists such as a low traffic rural roads and signed routes. The Bluegrass Region is recognized as a premier place to bicycle due to the rolling hills, horse farms and beautiful countryside. There are a number of rural bike routes leading from Lexington-Fayette County into surrounding counties which are promoted and advertised by local clubs and bike shops. A book called 'Wheeling Around the Bluegrass' has published these routes. Routes are also available on the Bluegrass Cycling Club's website. The Lexington-Convention & Visitors Bureau also prints a bike tour map. There has been recent interest in a regional effort to officially sign and jointly promote these routes.

Are there other facilities that have been created to promote bicycling in your community? Yes. Lexington has installed 250 bike racks throughout the downtown area to encourage bicycling.

How do you educate motorists to share the road with cyclists? In 2006, an eight-page newspaper insert with bicycling information, including rules of the road for motorists and bicyclists, was sent to all local newspaper subscribers (50,000+ subscribers). Radio PSAs on bike/motorist safety are purchased and provided through the city's annual Air Quality campaign. Bike safety segments are shown on local government access television and bike/motorists safety tips and rules of the road are available on the city website. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet also offers Share the Road license plates that are popular in Lexington.

How many community motorists do you reach with these efforts? Some

Are there other bicycle education opportunities for adults? Yes

Please describe (1) The Bluegrass Cycling Club offers BCC 101 which is led by two local LCIs. The ride leaders offer safe riding tips, bike checks and bike maintenance demos prior to a shorter, slower pace ride. (2) Local LCIs also offer Road 1, Road 2 and other bike training courses to the public and target groups such as University of Kentucky employees and students. (3) Two local bike shops offer monthly bike clinics that cover many safety topics. One shop hosts women and family clinics and rides for novice cyclists. (4) The UK Wildcat Wheels program also offers bike safety clinics.

Do you have a bicycle safety program for children in schools? Yes. All Fayette County students attend "Safety City" during the second grade. During the morning session, a police officer provides bicycle and pedestrian safety training to children as they move through a model-sized city.

How many schools participate? 34 out of 34

What other types of bicycle safety and education opportunities are available for children? (1) The Fayette County Safe Kids Coalition conducts bike safety rodeos 8-10 times per year at various school and community events. All Safe Kids educational programs are available each year to all local schools and churches and other organizations such as the boy scouts and girl scouts. The venues range from rodeos to classroom presentations to informational booths at health fairs. Safe Kids also has a portable Safe Moves City which depicts streets, street corners, and the hazards that children may encounter while riding a bike or as a pedestrian. (2) An annual rodeo is also provided by the Bluegrass AAA. (3) A bike rodeo is held at the Bike Lexington event. (4) A local bike shop and LCI instructor offers Kids 1 and Kids 2 clinics.

How many children participate? Approx 25 @ each

Do you make bicycle safety materials available to the public? Yes. An 8-page "Bicycling in the Bluegrass" insert with safety information was distributed to 50,000 local newspaper subscribers. The city's Bike Lexington map is distributed throughout the community and contains legal requirements and other bike safety information. Information is also provided at many local events and on the city's website at www.lfucg.com/bikewalklex/. Local bike shops also provide bike safety materials at their shops. One bike shop prints a newsletter called KY Cycling News which has over 10,000 subscribers and often includes bicycle safety information.

Do you have a bicycle ambassodor program that educates community members on local opportunities for bicycling and answers their questions? No

Do you have League Cycling Instructors in your area? Yes. Please list their names: Cheryl Wyatt, Stephen Wyatt, Griff Baute, Mark Trimble, Michael Galbraith

Is bicycle safety education included in routine local activities (e.g. tax renewal, drivers licensing and testing, or inserts with utility bills each month)? No

How do you promote National Bike Month in May (or another month)? A calendar of activities is offered during May. Events in 2007 included bike rides and rallies such as Bike Lexington and the Horsey Hundred as described in the responses below. Other Bike Month activities included a bike tour of Lexington's historic sites. The tour brochure remains available to local and visiting cyclists year-round. A commuter challenge week, during which local cyclists logged hundreds of commuter miles, concluded with a commuter breakfast and free bike awarded by the Mayor at Bike Lexington. Two major bike race events were also organized and offered during Bike Month. In addition to criteriums, one event offered alternative-style races and competitions that drew approximately 200 participants and spectators. Additional Bike Month activities included bike-in movies, bike art creation and display events, two bike safety classes and a bike 'mish mash' for kids at a local YMCA.

How many people do you reach with events and activities during this celebration? 3000

Do you actively promote Bike to Work Day or other bicycle commuting incentive programs? Yes. A commuter challenge was promoted during National Bike to Work Week in May 2007. During the week, participants logged 224 bike commutes and over 750 miles on their bicycles. A commuter breakfast was held at the downtown YMCA on Bike-to-Work Day. Based upon the number of bike trips they completed, commuters were entered into a contest to win a free commuter bike presented by the Mayor at the Bike Lexington event.

What portion of the community workforce do you reach? Some

Is there an annual bike tour or ride promoted to the general public in your community? Yes. (1) Bike Lexington - This annual cycling festival promoted by the city, drew over 700 bicyclists this year. The event is held in downtown Lexington and includes bike races, a car-free fun ride, bike safety rodeo, free helmets, bike art displays and activities for kids. The attendance nearly doubled from 2006 to 2007. Other local and regional rides include: (2) Horsey Hundred - Sponsored by the Bluegrass Cycling Club, this annual event draws 1500 participants to the Bluegrass from 34 states and Canada. (3) Bike Trek to Shakertown - Promoted by the American Lung Association this event has been promoted for the past 23 years and attracts hundreds of cyclists to the Bluegrass and surrounding communities. (4) Bluegrass State Games - This annual event held in Lexington has been expanded to include both mountain bike and road bike races. (5) Lexington Big Sandy Relay - This annual relay ride from Lexington, KY to Ashland, KY is organized by the KY Rails to Trails Council. The ride's purpose is to bring awareness to a potential rail trail between the two cities. Seventy bicyclists participated this year. (6) The MS150 began in Lexintgon last year. The ride to benefit the MS Society attrached hundreds of bicyclists. (7) The regional Tour de KY ride, sponsored by the American Heart Association, also passed through Lexington last year.

Are there community road and mountain bike clubs, bicycle advocacy organizations or racing clubs? Yes. (1) There are three local race teams that organize several events a year in mountain bike, road, cyclocross, and triathlon disciplines. (2) The Bluegrass Cycling Club has over 300 members. Their mission is to encourage bicycling for health, recreation, and transportation; to promote bicycle safety; to improve bicycling facilities; and to further all phases of bicycling. (3) There are three local trail advocacy groups including Town Branch Trail, Inc whose mission is to assist, organize and promote the development of a proposed system of recreational trails and greenspace along the Town Branch Creek in Lexington. (4) The HealthWay Task Force is another advocacy group dedicated to the completion of a 35 mile north-south corridor trail through Lexington-Fayette County and Jessamine County to the south. (5) The Bluegrass Rails to Trails Foundation is a non-profit foundation organized to serve as a catalyst to transform abandoned rail corridors in Fayette, Clark and Montgomery counties into useful recreational, non-motorized trails. (6) The local Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee also advocates and is proactive in the promotion, development, and maintenance of bicycle and pedestrian facilities in Fayette County. (7) A local bike shop began publishing 'KY Cycling News' approximately two years ago. The newsletter has a circulation of over 10,000 readers and often contains bicycle advocacy information and articles. For instance, the newsletter contained Mayoral candidate bicycle platforms during the last election cycle. A non-profit orgnaization has recently been formed to allow the newsletter to transition into an independent advocacy media.

How many specialty bicycle retailers (i.e., bike shops, not big box retailers like K-Mart or Wal-Mart) are there in your community? 4

Are there other bicycling areas or facilities such as BMX tracks, velodromes or mountain bike centers in your community? A local community park has a number of informal mountain bike trails.

Does your trail system have a unit of the National Mountain Bike Patrol? No

Are there opportunities to rent bicycles in your community or other recreational opportunities involving bicycling? Yes. One local bike shop rents bicycles. The shop is also a member of the Warm Showers List that provides free accommodations to touring cyclists passing through the area.

Do you have Safe Routes to School program that includes bicycling? Yes

How many schools are involved? None. Funding has been secured for two Safe Routes to School pilot projects and will begin this fall.

Does your community have youth recreation and intervention programs that are centered around bicycling? No

Do you publish a bike map and keep it up to date? Yes. The Bike Lexington map is updated and published bi-annually in both Spanish and English. The map rates all major roads in Lexington by 'bikeability' and shows the location of shared use trails. It also contains information on how to use the bike racks on transit buses, bike-related traffic laws, tips on sharing the road, proper helmet fit and local bike resources and contacts.

Do you publish a map of mountain bike trails? No

Please describe any other efforts in your community to encourage cycling (1) Yellow Bikes - A group of private businesses and citizens have purchased and distributed 80 'yellow bike' cruisers for residents and employees of the downtown area to use at their convenience. The program is so popular that the fleet will be expanded to 200 bicycles this year. (2) Wildcat Wheels Bike Library - Established in 2004, this University of Kentucky yellow bike program encourages students and employees to bike to and from campus via a fleet of bicycles that are available for check-out. Again, the program is so popular that the University has allocated $20,000 in funds to expand the fleet from 50 to 125 bicycles and to create a campus bike shop. A 'Blue Bike' program also provides bikes to UK departments so employees can conveniently bike for errands, to meetings, etc. (3) Citizen-based activities - There are many bike activities that are organized by informal citizen-based groups including weekly bike commuter breakfasts at downtown businesses, a monthly bike polo game, a monthly critical mass ride and many alternative bike races and competitions. ( 4) Shifting Gears - This project connects a local bike shop to a local refugee resettlement agency. The shop provides approximately 60 refurbished bikes to the resettlement agency to distribute to the people arriving in Lexington from various war-torn parts of the world. The bicycles provide people with reliable transportation to work and help them establish independence in their new community.

Is your local police department aware of the concerns of cyclists in your community? Yes

Is there a liaison that communicates with the bicycling community? No

Do you offer specific training to police officers regarding traffic law as it applies to bicyclists? Yes All bike officers (51 officers) undergo a 2 week certification course through DOCJT.

Do you use targeted enforcement to encourage cyclists and motorists to share the road safely? No

Do you have public safety employees on bikes? Yes. There are 2 units in the downtown area Monday through Friday. Bike officers also patrol high crime areas, so there are 6-12 officers on bikes daily depending upon assignments. Indicate the number of employees on bike as well as the size of the entire staff. Fifty-one officers are certified for bike patrol.

Do you have a mandatory helmet law? No

Do you have mandatory sidepath laws? Yes If so, what is the status of these laws? Local Law Are they enforced No

Do you have any information on the number of trips by bike in your community including census data? Yes. Journey to Work data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that bicycle commuting increased in Fayette County from .35 to .57 percent from 1990 to 2000. Recognizing that bicycle trips to work only represent 4/5 of trips, the city has a future goal to conduct a travel survey or bicycle counts to determine actual bicycle use.

How many cyclist/motor vehicle fatalities have occurred in your community in the past five years? 1 How many cyclist/motor vehicle crashes have occurred in your community in the past five years? 285 Do you have any specific plan or program to reduce these numbers? Yes Do you have a system in place that allows bicyclists to submit ideas and concerns to public officials? Yes

The Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) meets monthly. There are several citizen bicyclist committee members. The public is strongly encouraged to participate in BPAC meetings and often do. Contact information for the Bicycle & Pedestrian Coordinator and electronic feedback and facility improvement forms are available on the city's webpage. All public comments and inquiries are logged in a database and forwarded to appropriate officials or city departments. Approximately 150 such comments and requests are recorded each year.

Do you have a comprehensive bicycle plan? Yes

When was it passed or updated? 08/22/2007 Is it funded? Partially

What percentage has been implemented? Some

Do you have a trails master plan that addresses mountain bike access? No

And are there ongoing relations between the mountain biking community and the community recreation and planning staff? No

Is your bicycle network part of the broader development plans, land use plans, and ongoing development projects? Yes

How many trails, bike lanes, paved shoulders, bike routes connect with each other to provide a seamless transportation options? Some

Have you evaluated your transportation network and prioritized bicycle improvements based on hazards and needs? Yes

What specific improvements do you have planned for bicycling for the following year? (1) Lexington's Mayor Jim Newberry will host a Bike Summit to create an action plan for exepediting the implementation of the newly adopted Bike/Pedestrian Master Plan. (2) With the help of a federal grant, the University of Kentucky will begin implementation of their bike plan through campus-wide signage, bike path construction, printing a new campus transportation guide, and an expansion of the yellow bike fleet and campus bike shop. (3) $2 million in local funds will be allocated for new trail projects, primarily in city parks (4) Four miles of shared use greenway trail projects will be completed during the next year. (5) Design work will beign on 8 miles of new trail projects that were recently awarded grant funding. (6) Six miles of road construction projects that include bike lanes and paved shoulders are scheduled to begin this year. (7) A study will be conducted to determine if there are roadways in Lexington that can be easily restriped with bike lanes through the reduction of lane widths, removal of parking or vehicular travel lanes.

What are the three primary reasons your city deserves to be designated as a Bicycle Friendly Community? Reason One: Lexington's leadership is committed to becoming a Bicycle-Friendly Community as demonstrated by the city's recent finanical contributions to bicycling. With support of the City Council, Lexington's Mayor has allocated $2 million in new local funds for trail development this year, despite a tight city budget. The city has also secured over $4.5 million in grant funding for new bike facility plans, programs and projects during the last three years. An addtional $740,000 was spent on restriping bike lanes during street resurfacing during that same period. $2.8 million in funds are also programed for bike projects in the current MPO Transportation Improvement Program. This is in addition to bike facilities that will be constructed as part of larger transportation improvement projects. What are the three primary reasons your city deserves to be designated as a Bicycle Friendly Community? Reason Two: Over the past several years, Lexington has increased bike facility mileage at a steady rate by incorporating bicycle improvements in ALL new construction and reconstruction projects and by installing bike lanes during resurfacing projects wherever possible. This has led to bike lane installations on several collector streets and sections of five of Lexington's nine major arterials. Two of these major arterials are very close to having continuious bike lanes from the outer edges of the city to the downtown area. Bike lanes were also added to Main Street as a statement of our commitment to bicycling.

What are the three primary reasons your city deserves to be designated as a Bicycle Friendly Community? Reason Three: Ask anyone in Lexington, even non-bicyclists, and they will confirm that Lexington has experienced a noticeable increase in the number of bicyclists on our streets. There has also been a surge in local bike culture. Bicycling has been elevated in the community by our city leaders and is reflected in the local newspaper articles and editorials that appear on a regular basis. From downtown rallies to long-distance rural rides; from yellow cruiser bikes to spandex-wearing racing teams; Lexington offers a way for everyone to experience bicycling.

What are the three aspects of your community most in need of improvement in order to accommodate bicyclists? Number One Aspect: Increase the number of bicycle facilities to improve conditions for bicycling and enhance connectivity.

What are the three aspects of your community most in need of improvement in order to accommodate bicyclists? Number Two Aspect: Initiate a comprehensive "Share the Road" campaign to educate motorists and bicyclists about user rights, responsibilities and rules of the What are the three aspects of your community most in need of improvement in order to accommodate bicyclists? Number Three Aspect: Raise awareness within enforcement agencies, increase enforcement and improve communication between bicyclists and police.