The Mascoma River Greenway

Around the country, communities large and small are boldly implementing active transportation strategies to make it easier for people of all ages and abilities to connect to their destinations by being physically active.

Shared Bicycle Lane Symbol (Sharrow)

In Portland, OR, one of four Platinum Level Bicycle Friendly Communities (along with Boulder & Fort Collins, CO and Davis, CA), transportation and bicycle program officials have been at work for over 20 years, and have learned a few things about what makes a city bicycle and pedestrian friendly.

As part of the League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly Community Program, these and hundreds of other communities, universities, states, and businesses are changing the way we design transportation systems, which directly impacts our choices for how we get around town to do errands, go to school, work, and play.

Bicycle Boulevard sign

Lucky for us, Portland has created a handy brochure that outlines strategies that create a more safe, inclusive, and holistic active transportation system. Some improvements are relatively easy, like making a map of the city’s active transportation system, painting the roads with bicycle boxes, adding symbols for sharing the road with bicycles (sharrows), and selecting low speed, low traffic volume streets to designate as bicycle boulevards. Other treatments are more expensive, like bike/ped friendly bridges, bicycle traffic signals at intersections, and constructing separated pathways like the Mascoma River Greenway.

Portland Sunday Parkways

I recently had the good fortune to participate in one of Portland’s “Sunday Parkways” events, which draw thousands of people each year to bicycle and walk between parks, enjoying food, music and activities on a system of streets that are closed to cars. What fun!

Maybe someday Lebanon will join Concord and Keene, and achieve a Bronze Level Bicycle Friendly Community designation – who knows?