The benefits of a bicycle friendly campus are many. As a mode of transportation, bicycles provide solutions in the areas of safety, sustainability, cost savings, mobility, health and wellbeing. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was one of the first campuses in the nation to adopt a bikeway network when the first bike paths were constructed here in the 1950s. Since that time, funding cutbacks have led to degraded and disconnected pathways, outdated and insufficient bicycle parking, and limited support for bicycle services and programs. Despite these setbacks, bicycle ridership has grown at the University of Illinois in the last decade, and is expected to continue to grow in the future, creating a great need for reemphasis on engineering, education, enforcement, encouragement, and evaluation for bicycle-friendly improvements.

The primary focus of this plan is on infrastructure improvements to the University’s network of bikeways. Wherever possible, this plan recommends removing existing off-road side paths for bicycles and replacing them with on-street bicycle lanes or routes. These recommendations are based on the best available research on bicycle safety, which have shown significant safety improvements through on-street facilities compared to separated facilities. As ongoing research in the field continues to evaluate best practices, all future infrastructure plans and improvements on campus should continue to reflect the best available research at the time. Chapter 6 details the specific recommendations for each segment of the bikeway network. The majority of infrastructure improvements included in this plan include rough cost estimates, totaling approximately $4 million in 2014 dollars. While the focus of this plan is primarily on the infrastructure improvements, Chapter 7 of the plan makes a number of additional recommendations on other key topics for bicycles such as improved education, encouragement, and enforcement.