When it comes to being a bike-friendly city, Aurora can go for the gold

Bike racks in downtown are decked out with yarn and bicycles. Aurora is on its way to being a bike-friendly city. It’s time to go for the gold with on-street bike lanes and convenient bicycle parking to encourage bicycling throughout the city.

It’s fun to ride a bike. No matter what age, bicycles lead to almost instant joy. Bikes are also independence in the form of two wheels and, bonus, they have zero emission.

In Aurora, we now have the honor of officially being a bike-friendly city with a bronze level designation awarded by the League of American Bicyclists in November. The “green mile” enclosed bike lane on River Street in downtown Aurora received the 2016 Ride Illinois Project Award last fall.

As an avid bicyclist, I’m incredibly proud of my city and its bike-friendly accomplishments. We already have fantastic trails that are part of the Fox Valley Park District system, and on-street biking is becoming better and safer.

In a bicycle-friendly city, bicyclists are encouraged to get around with infrastructure that is both pedestrian and “bike-friendly.” On-street bike lanes and bicycle parking are essential. Bonus niceties include convenient access to bike repair shops and trail systems.

As far as on-street bike lanes, River Street’s “green mile” is a great start. Aurora has a few paths or sidewalks where bikes can travel with ease such as along Indian Trail, Galena, Orchard, and New York Street. In a bike-friendly city, bicyclists can also get along safely and be welcomed on streets.

When the Downer Place Bridges were reconstructed, I attended the open house at North Island Center to request that bike lanes or sharrows (shared lanes) be incorporated into the plans. The plans were already complete and bike lanes were not part of them. I saw the same thing happen when Wilson Street in downtown Batavia was redone.

Aurora has incorporated a few sharrows on streets just east of Broadway. That’s another important step in being bike-friendly. Automobiles that see a bicycle painted on the street are reminded of the rules of the road stating that bicyclists are to ride on the street and not on sidewalks.

On-street bike lanes would fit nicely on wide streets such as Prairie, Downer, and Edgelawn on Aurora’s West Side. Aurora University students could feel more comfortable commuting by bicycle via a series of connected bike lanes throughout the neighborhood. On the East Side, bike lanes could assist in boosting bicycling as an alternative form of transportation since there isn’t a districtwide busing system.

Bike racks are another vital element in a bike-friendly city. We have several nicely placed racks in downtown thanks to a bike-friendly supervisor of maintenance services, Joe Hopp. Spartan House, a new neighborhood restaurant on Prairie, smartly installed a designated bike rack before they opened.

Freeman Elementary School recently received a well-done and impressive addition, but bicycle parking is non-existent near the new entry on Randall Road. When I shop at Aldi or Ace on Galena, there are no bike racks. A quick Google search found several commercial bike racks for under $500.

The city, school districts, businesses, architects, and planners could work together to incorporate bike parking and other bicycle-friendly amenities when businesses are opening or remodeling.

RiverEdge Park gets two thumbs up for abundant bicycle parking; bicycling on Broadway requires use of the sidewalk, however, which is frightening at times due to heavy traffic and lights that cater to cars and not pedestrians or bicyclists. The stretch of sidewalk north of the park to Illinois Avenue is in need of serious repair.

Zagster bike rental stations in three spots throughout downtown are a huge plus. It’s encouraging to see the bikes being used by visitors and residents in the spring, summer, and fall.

More good news in downtown is that All Spoked Up, a bicycle repair and sales shop on Downer, is now moving two doors to the west in the Metropolitan Business College building and expanding its store.

Aurora is on the right track when it comes to making bicyclists feel welcome. Now it’s time to go for the gold and make biking a no-brainer throughout the city.