Ace McGuire and his father, Kelly McGuire, ride their bikes around Ragle Park last March as clouds hang over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Santa Fe has been recertified as a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists, the organization announced Friday in a news release.
Ace McGuire and his father, Kelly McGuire, ride their bikes around Ragle Park last March as clouds hang over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Santa Fe has been recertified as a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists, the organization announced Friday in a news release.
The city of Santa Fe has been recertified as a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists, the organization announced Friday in a news release.
Designated Bicycle Friendly Communities “exemplify an ongoing commitment to make bicycling safe, comfortable and accessible to all,” said Bill Nesper, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists.
Cities are evaluated on a variety of criteria, including engineering, education, encouragement, evaluation and planning, and equity and accessibility.
Bicycle Friendly Community awards are retained for four years before a community must reapply for the designation. Santa Fe has been an active Bicycle Friendly Community since 2011.
Local bicycle advocates are hoping the city can make continued improvements and achieve a Gold-level designation.
Councilor Michael Garcia on Wednesday introduced a resolution before the City Council that would boost funding for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
The resolution calls for the development and maintenance of a Global Information System-based inventory of the conditions of the city’s bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and establishing a regular inspection schedule of the infrastructure.
Garcia, who chairs the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, said the resolution requests $2.2 million for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure improvements this year and another $2.2 million next year.
“Our goal is to hit the Gold-level status,” Garcia said Friday. “Developing a robust infrastructure with appropriate resources to build out the infrastructure but also to maintain it is critical. That’s where this resolution helps to build that strong foundation.”
Romella Glorioso-Moss, the city’s capital projects manager and advisory committee staff liaison, said one of the major issues revealed in a survey conducted in 2021 is connectivity, which for bicycling means a network of well-connected streets, sidewalks, bicycle lanes and paths. She said 72% of respondents stated low connectivity is a major issue for not using city bike and walking trails.
Glorioso-Moss said connectivity is one of the issues the advisory committee is addressing in a 10-year strategic plan, which was completed with a mission for the city to achieve Gold-level status as a Bicycle Friendly Community by 2033.
The League of American Bicyclists has designated 480 U.S. cities Bicycle Friendly Communities.
Santa Fe is one of five Bicycle Friendly Communities in New Mexico. Albuquerque also has a Silver-level designation, while Las Cruces, Los Alamos and Silver City have Bronze-level designations.
