APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — As they plan for the future, Appleton leaders are hoping to hear from the city’s residents in a new survey — especially those residents who ride bikes in and around the community.
“The most important [thing] is getting real feedback from real people in our community about what’s important to them,” says Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford. “We know when we put out a survey, it’s not all glowing reviews and not everybody is supportive of bike infrastructure, and that’s okay. We want that feedback too.”
Woodford says the survey has two purposes: it serves as part of an initiative called Smart Streets, which aims to create infrastructure that is safer and more accessible for everyone on the roads, including drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists.
But the survey is also part of an effort to renew the city’s “Bicycle Friendly Community” certification through the League of American Bicyclists.
“To become a bicycle-friendly community, a community needs to be approaching this holistically,” says Amelia Neptune, the program director for the league’s Bike Friendly America program.
The robust certification looks at five main categories, the first of which is infrastructure.
“We look at infrastructure and the low-stress bike routes that exist, whether that’s slow-speed streets, protected bike lanes or great trails. There’s really no one-size-fits-all for what that looks like. A really dense urban city and a really rural small town can both achieve this in their own ways,” Neptune says.
Infrastructure pieces aren’t just bike lanes and trails; they also include things like bike parking at destinations, grocery stores, workplaces and schools, too.
Another category for certification is education and encouragement, Neptune says.
“Things like, are people taught the rules of the road? Both bicyclists and drivers. How to share the road with bikes and kids. Getting on-bike education in schools is a really big thing we’re trying to promote and encourage communities to do,” she says.
Other categories include evaluation and planning, which look at whether cities are allocating funding and staff to bike plans, and making sure they’re accurately tracking ridership and progress in their communities.
Lastly, the league looks at equity.
“We look at how all these things are made available to absolutely everyone, so anyone who wants to ride a bike or needs to ride a bike has that option to safely do so,” Neptune adds.
Neptune says there are four categories for certification: bronze, silver, gold and platinum.
Appleton currently holds a silver status and is hoping to maintain that status through this application and survey process.
Appleton first applied to the Bike Friendly Community program in 2011, but wasn’t granted any certification. In 2013, the city leaders re-applied for bronze status after receiving feedback in 2011, and they received it. In 2017, Appleton applied for silver and has maintained that status ever since.
Meanwhile, Green Bay holds a bronze status, while Madison is one of just five U.S. communities that hold the platinum certification status. Those other cities are:
- Davis, California
- Boulder, Colorado
- Fort Collins, Colorado
- Portland, Oregon
“Having that recognition from a national entity like this on our bicycle friendly status in the community can be a helpful way of communicating to folks this is a good place to live, this is a place where you can get around if getting around on a bicycle is important to you, this is a community that can help meet those needs,” Mayor Woodford says.
Wisconsin has 22 communities that are certified through the Bike Friendly Community program:
- Madison, platinum
- Green Bay, bronze
- Appleton, silver
- Fitchburg, silver
- Milwaukee, silver
- Shorewood, silver
- La Crosse, silver
- Stevens Point, silver
- Sun Prairie, silver
- Eau Claire, bronze
- Janesville, bronze
- Kenosha County, bronze
- Menasha, bronze
- Menominee, bronze
- Monona, bronze
- Onalaska, bronze
- Sheboygan, bronze
- Sturgeon Bay, bronze
- Verona, bronze
- West Allis, bronze
- River Falls, silver
- Sheboygan County, silver
As an avid bicyclist and a member of the city’s bicycle and pedestrian committee, Gwen Sargant, whose family owns the Appleton Bicycle Shop just off College Avenue, says she’s proud of the improvements Appleton has made and is excited for what could come next.
“We have some really great infrastructure that’s not necessarily well connected, so the next phase I think for the city would be, I think, to look at all the pieces and connect them really well, as well as adding trails. Really just creates a better and better community,” said Sargant. “Going through the process, I think, helps the city elevate better choices for that type of infrastructure for bicyclists.”
The city’s survey will be open until October 5.
Neptune says Appleton leaders should know in December if they’ve maintained their silver certification status. While it is possible for communities to lose their designation through the certification process, it’s rare and unlikely.
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