Ride of Silence

Kalamazoo Mayor Bobby Hopewell waits for The Ride of Silence on Wednesday, May 17, 2017. Riders traversed an eight mile loop while remaining slow and silent to pay tribute to cyclists who have been killed or injured while riding. (Jake Green | MLive.com)

(JakeGreen/MLive.com)

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Increasing the safety of non-motorized transportation in Kalamazoo has been discussed for years, but real change has been slow.

Through the Imagine Kalamazoo 2025 master plan and strategic vision process, city leaders have expressed a renewed commitment to improve dangerous streets; and residents have told them where to dig. The League of American Bicyclists recognized recent action and the city's future plans by granting Kalamazoo a Bronze Bicycle Friendly Community award.

"We're excited to officially be recognized as a Bicycle Friendly Community for the first time ever," said Rebekah Kik, director of the Department of Community Planning and Development. "We know we're still at the beginning of this process and will continue to create safe and accessible routes for cyclists and all street users throughout the city."

The award recognizes Kalamazoo's commitment to improve conditions for bicycling through investments in infrastructure, passing pro-bicycling policies and promoting bicycling culture. It was the first time Kalamazoo applied for the national distinction.

As part of Kalamazoo Area Bike Week, representatives from local organizations and municipalities met last week to discuss the progress of bicycle safety in Kalamazoo County. Bike Week Chair David Warwick said "serious momentum" has been gathering during the last three years, though there is still much work to be done.

The Kalamazoo Area Transportation Study, a federally-created metropolitan planning organization, is working with the public to improve linkages between the exiting transit network and non-motorized infrastructure in the area. KATS found that some of the most dangerous areas for pedestrians and bicyclists are the major arterial streets that emanate from downtown Kalamazoo.

It identified 14 "safety focus areas" due to a high volume of crashes. Ten of these focus areas are at least a partially inside the city of Kalamazoo, including six locations close to downtown core neighborhoods.

According to Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning, 521 vehicle on bicycle crashes occurred in the city of Kalamazoo from Jan. 1, 2005 to Dec. 31, 2015.

Seventy-five percent of these crashes resulted in some kind of injury, while five percent resulted in an incapacitating injury. Two people were killed by a motorist while riding a bike in the city from 2005 to 2015.

Traffic calming techniques like narrowing roads and converting one-way streets to accommodate travel in both directions were highly requested by residents during Imagine Kalamazoo 2025 workshops and forums.

Paul Selden, a cycling advocate and director of road safety for the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club, said there has been an "awakening" in Kalamazoo as the number of bicyclists have increased. Making roads safer and promoting a pro-bicycle culture could also serve as a marketing tool for the city, he said.

The Bicycle Friendly Communities program provides a benchmark to compare best practices and highlight areas for improvement. Michigan is home to 11 bicycle friendly communities, 25 businesses and seven universities.

The cities of Portage, Grand Rapids and Battle Creek earned bronze awards this year. Bronson Methodist Hospital was given a gold award for its efforts to provide bicycle storage facilities and incentivize its employees to bike to work.

A report card created by the League of American Bicyclists shows Kalamazoo is headed in the right direction, but the road will be long.

The city's bicycle network and connectivity, motorist awareness and skills of bicyclists scored two points on a scale of 10. Encouraging bicycling culture to enter the mainstream, promoting safety and protecting bicyclists' rights and planning scored four out of 10.

Data that Kalamazoo reported on its road network was incomplete or inconsistent, the report card states, which makes it difficult for the League of American Bicyclists to judge the state of bicycling in Kalamazoo.

The league recommends making data on the roadway and bicycle networks available so the community can utilize GIS-based or other network analyses, create bicycle network maps, and accurately assess the quality of its bicycle network.

These networks will experience some change this year.

In a release celebrating the award, Kalamazoo stated it plans to complete a downtown segment of the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail in 2017.

A trail segment through Upjohn Park is planed, as well as the installation of additional bike racks downtown and a road diet with bike lanes added to South Burdick Street.

A Complete Streets Policy is being drafted as part of the city's master plan and strategic vision process. Complete Streets policies ensure that the entire right-of-way is planned, constructed, and maintained to provide safe access for all users.

One component of the policy is to enable a Vision Zero goal, which seeks to eliminate pedestrian and vehicle fatalities.

The league also recommended creating an official citizen's advisory committee to ensure there is a method for ongoing citizen input into the development of future policies, plans, and projects.

A draft of Kalamazoo's Complete Streets Policy states a nine-member subcommittee will meet quarterly for this purpose. The subcommittee, comprised of one member of the Planning Commission, a city staff member and residents, would provide an annual report to the Planning Commission.

In 2016, the Kalamazoo City Commission passed a five-foot bicycle passing ordinance to improve safety for cyclists. The Kalamazoo Bicycle Club named the city "2017 Friend of Bicycling" for its support of policies to make non-motorized travel safer.

Portage and Oshtemo Township have passed nearly identical ordinances, while Kalamazoo Township is also discussing its own passing ordinance. However, the ordinance has been seen as more of a symbolic gesture than a strictly enforced policy.

Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia have enacted a 3-foot wide bicycle-passing zone. Michigan is among 13 states with no required passing distance.

Senate Bills 0123 and 0170, sponsored by Sen. Margaret O'Brien, R-Portage, and Sen. David Knezek, D-Dearborn Heights, would make the 5-foot passing distance state law.