Council Communication Office of the City Manager	Date	October 8, 2007
	Agenda Item No. 58 Roll Call No. 07- Communication No. 07-614 Submitted by: Donald M. Tripp, Park and Recreation Director

AGENDA HEADING:

Receive and file goals from the Trails and Greenways Advisory Committee (TAG) for helping Des Moines to become a bicycle friendly community.

SYNOPSIS:

Recommend approval to receive and file goals to help Des Moines become a bicycle friendly community. This action also refers the goals to the City Manager for additional review and recommendation back to the City Council regarding their adoption.

FISCAL IMPACT: NONE

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

In March of 2006, the Park and Recreation Department submitted an application to the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) for consideration of the City of Des Moines as a Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) in their Bicycle Friendly Community Program. A Bicycle Friendly Community provides safe accommodation for cycling and encourages its residents to bike for transportation and recreation. The City of Des Moines and Polk County Conservation Board Trails and Greenways Advisory Committee (TAG), which is a committee of the Des Moines Park Board, worked with City staff to complete the City’s application to this program.

Des Moines was not selected as a Bicycle Friendly Community in 2006, but reviewers from the LAB hoped that the application marked a commitment on behalf of the City of Des Moines to make Des Moines more bicycle friendly. The reviewers encouraged Des Moines to work on implementing more on-street facilities to connect the network of off- and on-street facilities. The BFC reviewers encouraged Des Moines to expand its education, enforcement, encouragement and evaluation efforts in order to be considered a Bicycle Friendly Community in the future.

Based on the feedback received from the BFC program, the TAG Committee created the attached goals to guide Des Moines toward becoming a Bicycle Friendly Community. Gaining BFC status will help Des Moines become a more bicycle friendly community and also helps to achieve several of the City of Des Moines’ goals as adopted by the City Council on October 23, 2006, such as those relating to a vibrant downtown and a sustainable green community.

The suggested goals to make Des Moines a Bicycle Friendly Community fall into the following categories:

§ Training for City Staff in Bicycle Facility Design

§ Trail Network Improvements

§ Bicycle Network Improvements

§ Bicycle Education for Users and Automobile Drivers

§ Bicycle Parking

§ Safe Routes to School Program

Attached along with these goals is the March/April 2007 issue of the American Bicyclist magazine. This magazine highlights many cities around the Midwest and the Country that have been identified as bicycle friendly.

The ultimate goal is that the City of Des Moines be recognized as a “Bronze Level” Bicycle Friendly Community in 2009 and “Silver Level” Bicycle Friendly Community in 2012. Achieving these goals will be challenging and require significant commitment from the City of Des Moines and the bicycle community. Although there is no cost directly associated with tonight’s receive and file action, any future efforts toward achieving the goals will likely have a budgetary impact.

The cost to produce a bicycle master plan for the City of Des Moines is estimated to be $100,000. Completion of a master plan will give a better estimate as to the future costs associated with achieving these goals. Where possible, estimated costs for implementation were placed with the goals. The anticipated costs are preliminary based on early research. Additional funding would be pursued during the budget process for developing the Capital Improvement Program (Parks Improvements – Recreation Trails – PKS045). The Park and Recreation Department also seeks additional funding for trail construction through multiple granting programs.

PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION(S): NONE

BOARD/COMMISSION ACTION(S):

Date: April 24, 2007

Roll Call Number: 07-052

Action: Park and Recreation Board received and filed Bicycle Friendly Community Goals.

ANTICIPATED ACTIONS AND FUTURE COMMITMENTS:

Action on recommendation from City Manager regarding approval and adoption of goals.