August 01, 2009
Get ready to bike, Omaha.
Mayor Jim Suttle presided over ribbon-cutting ceremonies Aug. 10 to mark the official launch of Bike Omaha, a pilot project that will create a 20-mile loop of on-street bicycle facilities in the city.
Omaha’s 16th Street from Capitol Avenue to Cuming Street is the first section of the project to be implemented, said Tammie Dodge, project manager with Activate Omaha. It’s part of the Doorly Route that, when completed, will link downtown Omaha and the riverfront with the Benson Business District. As part of a previously planned resurfacing project for 16th Street, the number of traffic lanes has been reduced from four to three, providing both left-turn lanes and new bike lanes.
The $600,000 pilot, funded privately through the Peter Kiewit Foundation and an anonymous donor, will feature five initial routes:·
Benson, from downtown to the Benson Business District;
- Aksarben, from downtown to Aksarben Village and ultimately along Mercy Road to 78th Street;
- Happy Hollow, from the Benson Route at 48th and Miami to the Keystone Trail;
- Doorly, from downtown to the Henry Doorly Zoo; and
- Midtown, from Creighton University to the Field Club Trail and Lauritzen Gardens.
The system also includes connecting routes to complete an overall network that connects downtown Omaha with the regional trail system and serves many important Omaha destinations, Dodge said.
Design concept plans for the 20-mile Bike Omaha system have been reviewed and revised by the Mayor’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, which formed in the summer of 2008 to work in partnership with city departments and the public to improve Omaha’s environment for cyclists, pedestrians and other non-automotive forms of transportation.
“This project is especially significant because it represents Omaha’s first real ‘complete streets’ effort, coordinating street and bicycle infrastructure improvements to create a better environment for all users,” said Marty Shukert, chair of the Mayor’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee.
The committee anticipates completion of the Benson Route later this year. A portion of the Midtown Route has been completed with the creation of the Turner Boulevard Trail from Dodge to Pacific streets through a partnership with the city’s parks department. The 32nd Avenue portion of the Midtown Route will be completed in the latter portion of 2010. Progress updates on the development of all five routes will be provided in the coming months, Dodge said.
In conjunction with the Bike Omaha pilot, Activate Omaha is partnering with city officials to develop a bicycle parking program that will provide and install bicycle racks for business and property owners along the Bike Omaha routes. More information will be provided in the coming weeks as the project develops.
For more information about Bike Omaha or the bicycle parking program, contact Dodge at 402.934.5923 or tammie@activateomaha.org.