A few days ago, we received an interesting email from an anonymous Burlington resident.  The email included a number of questions about the emerging bike network in Burlington.  We took this as an opportunity to take a deeper dive into some of the issues that have surfaced over the past six or eight months as Burlington has begun implementation of PlanBTV Walk Bike.  Read on to see what was asked—and how we responded.

2017 was a somewhat lack-luster year for the implementation of Burlington's Walk-Bike Network. As 2018 gears up, it is with renewed energy and cautious optimism that the biking/walking community of Burlington is approaching the upcoming construction/biking/walking season.

We had another successful Learn to Ride class this past Saturday!  Almost 30 kids, ranging in ages 3 - 10, converged on Leddy Park in Burlington ready to Learn to Ride.  A good number of them were successful and almost everyone improved significantly!

Our Learn to Ride classes are getting themselves a following!  We had a family come back this year, because... 

Do you live, work, or shop in downtown Burlington?  Do you bike on the Burlington Greenway (aka the Lakeshore Bike Path)?  Watch for big on-the-ground changes for better walking and biking this summer!  Burlington DPW has committed to an ambitious slate of on-street improvements for biking and walking in downtown Burlington. The Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront department will rebuild the Burlington Greenway from North Beach to the Winooski River bridge. Things are in motion for putting Burlington on the map as one of the best small cities for biking and walking!

Burlington is finally set to make real progress on becoming a biking city!  This year, the City has committed to an ambitious list of bike-related improvements to streets (as well as a whole lot of improvements for walking) to ensure that Burlington becomes as bike and walk friendly as possible.  Local Motion has been working closely with DPW and the mayor for the last six months to shape a high-impact package of improvements that focus primarily on the "center city" area (Old North End, downtown/waterfront, hill section up to the UVM green, and south end to Howard).  By the end of 2017, Burlington will have a basic connected network throughout this area!

In July 2015, Local Motion, DuBois & King, the Burlington Dept. of Public Works and Street Plans Collaborative partnered together and set up temporary street redesigns to show how bike lanes can increase safety for non-motorized street users and how with a little thought and planning cyclists, walkers and cars can all coincide peacefully on our streets. This effort was just featured in Design Museum Magazine!

Burlington Parks, Recreation and Waterfront announced earlier today the re-opening of the treasured Burlington Greenway. The Burlington Greenway, formerly known as The Burlington Bike Path, has been under construction since mid-summer and been closed to the public for just as long. 

A recent article from Citylab gives empirical backing to something that is obvious to anyone who rides a bike:  protected bike lanes make biking better.  But they do more than reduce crashes; they also increase rates of biking.  The increased margin of safety persuades "retired" bike riders to dust off their bikes and take to the streets.  Check out the article at this link.  And read on to learn why this matters right now for Burlington.

Vermont Goldsprints is pleased to announce Burlington's own indoor bicycle racing party series- MAD DASHES- for winter 2017. Exact dates are TBA, but racing will take place at Brio Coffee, Switchback Brewing, and Maglianero. No racing experience and really, no bicycling experience is required to participate! Proceeds from Mad Dashes keeps the racing gear running and gets BIKES in front of KIDS at Open Street BTV, Safety Days, and other bike advocacy events around Vermont and beyond - and it's a heck of a lot of fun!

Local Motion staff and volunteers hit the streets in Burlington last night to get high-quality bike lights on "ninja" bikes. We counted about 80 riders coming through the intersection of Pearl Street & Winooski Avenue in the space of two hours.  The good news?  Two-thirds of them already had lights on their bikes! Check out our Twitter feed for photos, reactions, and more.