Bicyclists mount your bicycles! Let’s go Downtown

Members of Bike Downtown pass through Kennedy<br>Plaza.
Members of Bike Downtown pass through Kennedy
Plaza.


The weather should be beautiful—after all it’s May— and there’s no better way to celebrate than a daily bike ride…to and from work.


At least that’s what the Bike Downtown initiative is encouraging.


The group, made up of Groundwork Providence, the City of Providence and Providence Foundation is working together to make bicycle commuting a safer and more pleasant experience for everyone.


The Providence Foundation is putting to use a $180,000 grant through the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration that it hopes will increase the number of people bicycling to work and college in and around downtown Providence.


Bike Downtown kicked off the first phase of its summer initiative on Friday (May 17) with a Bike To Work Day breakfast celebration at the Fleet Skating Center.


“Our motivation is to not only try to decrease congestion and improve air quality, but also to give people another option to get to work and reduce the parking problem downtown,” said Daniel Baudouin, executive director of the Providence Foundation.


Dani Simons is the neighborhood programs coordinator for Groundwork Providence, which had operated as Keep Providence Beautiful since 1982. Simons said about 300 people in Providence bike to work and if they could double that number this summer they’d be happy. There are many reasons that the program is a good idea, she said.


“I love this program because we can sell it from so many different angles,” she said. “There are the environmental reasons, with the whole Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program and the parking issue is also a big deal. There’s also the fact that so many people spend so many dollars joining a gym that takes additional time out of their day. They can just get their daily exercise by biking to work.”


There is a strong educational component to the program as well.


“A lot of the education will revolve around sharing the road,” said Simons. “It’s both a safety issue and the issue of establishing good rapport between cyclists and motorists.”


Another part of the Bike Downtown program includes a Web site (www.bikedowntown.org) where the safest bicycle routes will be mapped out by other bikers. Steve Church, bicycle and pedestrian program coordinator with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, said the Web site will come in handy in the future as RIDOT expands public bike paths.”This will all someday create an interconnected network,” he said.


Baudouin said the funding will be used in a three-pronged campaign. The first component includes signage and striping of roads by the City of Providence to be more cyclist-friendly.


The second component includes marketing to promote and educate people about bike riding. This includes people who may join the ranks as bike riders and those who will continue to drive, as well as business owners who could encourage their employees to bike to work.


The third portion of the funding will go toward purchasing more bike racks and bike lockers. Baudouin said a bike locker is sometimes a double-decker system that can fit as many as 20 bicycles in the length of one parking space.


“I’m just excited about the whole campaign,” said Baudouin. “We know it’s not for everyone, but I hope it will reach out to more people. I’m hoping that this kind of campaign can run for a while.”

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