A plan crafted to coax more people to use bicycles for short trips in the city won an initial backing from Milwaukee aldermen on Thursday, with just one raising a cautionary note on the potential cost of the proposed street improvements.

The Bicycle Master Plan maps out 125 miles of new bike lanes, 40 miles of bike boulevards and seven miles of paved trails that would make bicycling on city streets less frightening, according to its proponents.

The goal of the bike lane build-out, along with improved education and enforcement, is to put people on bicycles for 5% of all trips less than five miles, by 2020. Daily bike trips in the city would double from about 81,000 to 162,000.

The cost of the projects - striping bike lanes, building boulevards and adding paths – is $8.63 million.

Ald. Joseph Dudzik warned it would be hard to justify spending those dollars on bike paths, given the huge deficits in state and federal budgets. He also said he would follow the direction of his constituents, who may not be overly keen to new bike lanes being added to their streets.

“I’m not going to be bulldozed by a bunch of bicyclists,” Dudzik told the Public Safety Committee as it reviewed the plan.

The committee sent the guide to the full Common Council, with a recommendation that it be approved next week.

Even if the council approves the blueprint, as expected, none of the projects outlined would be started immediately. Individual projects and spending would have to be approved separately.

“These are goals,” said Ald. Nicholas Kovac, a cycling proponent. “These are things we’d like to do. It remains to be seen if we can get any money for it.”

Bike lanes and boulevards are likely to be added during street reconstruction or repaving projects, and when federal grant dollars become available, according to City Engineer Jeff Polenske. Having the plan in place will improve the city’s ability to obtain grants for bike and pedestrian projects, he said.

As mapped out in the planning guide, the network of bike lanes and routes would offer a designated ride option within 1/4 mile of nearly the entire city.

Beyond the basic bike lanes, the plan also calls for several more innovative efforts to make streets safer for cyclists – ideas that have been tested in places like Portland, Ore., Minneapolis, Minn., and Madison. Those include raised bike lanes, pavement markings and signal set ups that put cyclists first in line at intersections, and a bike-sharing program.

Other goals include designated mountain bike trails and a BMX venue in the city, and attended bicycle parking at sporting events and concerts.

Bike plan proponents hope to make city streets more accomodating for daily commutes