Calling all Montgomery County cyclists: we need your help.
In early July, Montgomery County received a $30,000 Transportation and Community Development Initiative grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) in order to create an entirely new Bicycle Mobility Plan, Bike Montco.
More recently, the county has created an interactive online map for cyclists to add their own input about bicycle accessibility in the area to provide feedback as the mobility plan moves forward.
The goals of the new plan tie into those of the county’s comprehensive plan, Montco 2040-A Shared Vision, which aims to improve bicycle and pedestrian accessibility in the area, improve the county’s health, community connections, as well as provide more transportation options while reducing the number of vehicle miles traveled.
“We want to make biking safer and easier for more people around the county. This plan will propose more bikeable connections to trails, parks, downtown, retail centers, and schools,” said Jody L. Holton, AICP, Executive Director of the Montgomery County Planning Commission, in a press release.
Bike Montco focuses on four specific improvements in the area: safe bike routes to parks and trails, bike mobility in and around town, bike routes to public transportation, and bike access near colleges and high schools.
Click this map for an interactive experience.
The county plans on tackling this large initiative by analyzing current bicycle conditions, such as location of trails and bike lanes, crash history, and bicycle traffic counts to create a Regional Bicycle Planning Level of Transportation Stress map.
To help analyze the current condition of the county’s bike trails, lanes, and overall accessibility, the county has created an online map for cyclists and bike commuters in the area to offer their input, mainly focusing on high stress areas for cyclists, favorite routes, and areas that need improvement.
Contributors can click on any area of the map; choose whether their comment concerns routes or trails, obstacles, or areas for improvement, and add a comment detailing the condition of the area. Users have included access points and connections to trails, current roads in disrepair, and dangerous areas for cyclists to avoid.