Features that help make biking and walking safer have been installed across Burlington in many places this summer! And DPW isn't done yet, as several more safety features are being completed into this fall. These are all a part of the City's effort to create a network of connected streets where people of all ages and abilities can easily get around and feel safe doing so, as outlined in planBTV Walk Bike. Neighborhood Greenways are an important part of this--that is, streets with low vehicle volumes and speeds designed to prioritize bicycling and enhance conditions for walking. "The Wiggle" in the ONE is a great example of this, where folks of all ages and abilities can get from the NNE or Battery Park and the Waterfront to the top of the hill (UVM and UVMMC), downtown, or anywhere in between.

Below is a sample of the wonderful bike and walk infrastructure that the City of Burlington has or is in the process of completing this summer. Fear not, much more superb bike and walk infrastructure is planned for upcoming years to help complete a connected citywide network.

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.

It was supposed to be just a regular Saturday morning running the Valet Bike Parking at the Farmers' Market in City Hall Park. Until I got the email from Wayne. Wayne is my friend from Montreal, who used to live in Burlington but abandoned us for "La vie francaise" north of the border.

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. 

The Burlington Bike Path has undergone some major transformations over the last few months, and while the path gets closer and closer to re-opening between North Beach and Waterfront Fishing Pier everyday, it's not quite ready to make its debut to us in its newest form...

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.