Leawood seeks bike-friendly status

Leawood officials would like it known that their community is a good and safe place to ride a bike.

Saying it, however, does not make it official. So steps are being taken that potentially could lead to the city being certified a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists.

City Parks Director Chris Claxton said the first step will be to file an application with the league. Doing so costs nothing, and the league's response will tell the city where it stands even if it achieves no ranking.

 "The assessment shows what you're doing now, and it will tell us what else we need to do" to qualify for Bicycle Friendly Community status, Claxton said.

Earning the designation would put Leawood in rather select company. Only 108 cities nationwide have the designation. The only one in the Kansas City metropolitan area is Shawnee, which carries a bronze rating. Above that level are platinum, gold and silver rankings.

Lawrence, also a bronze, is the only other Bicycle Friendly Community in Kansas. Columbia is the only Missouri city on the list, and it recently graduated to silver status.

Claxton said it is unlikely Leawood will qualify for one of the top four categories, but she does think there is a good chance for being placed on the honorable mention list. The city then could gradually move up.

Achieving Bicycle Friendly status would send positive messages to the public in general and especially to the cycling public, city officials said.

"We want to do what we can to encourage people to ride bikes more," Claxton said. "A lot of cycling goes on in Leawood, and a lot of streets are being ridden on whether it's appropriate or not."

There are plans to create more places where cycling is appropriate.

Already in place, and weighing in Leawood's favor on its application, Claxton said, would be the eight miles of bike/hike trails that connect with trail systems in adjoining communities.

In the future, marked bike lanes like those that now exist along a portion of 123rd Street will become more common.

Public Works Director Joe Johnson said that when the city improves 143rd Street it will include construction of an off-street biking trail for a two-mile stretch alongside 143rd between Nall Avenue and Kenneth Road. In that same area, the outside traffic lane will be two feet wider than the inside lane in order to better accommodate cyclists. Signs will be posted designating that portion of 143rd Street a "Share The Road" area.

Similar segments of biking trails and lanes are planned along Mission Road between 135th and 151st streets and on parts of 151st Street, Johnson said.

It is more difficult to provide cycling accommodations in established areas where streets are not likely to be widened. That does not mean there are no options in those areas, however.

"We're not in a position to tear out or widen streets. We will try to retrofit some things," Claxton said. "In some areas it would just be restriping the street for a lane that perhaps can accommodate a bike lane."

The parks office will work with the Planning and Public Works departments to determine where that might be possible, Claxton said.

Cities applying for Bicycle Friendly status are judged in categories called the Five E's. Those areas and what they involve are engineering (physical accommodations and a bicycling master plan), education (programs that teach safety), encouragement (promotion of cycling), enforcement (connections between the cycling community and law enforcement) and evaluation (planning).

Bolstering the city's resume in the education category, Claxton said, are bicycle rodeos held at local schools, and bicycle safety instruction programs that the Police Department provides at elementary schools.

The timing for the initiative might not be the best from a funding availability standpoint, but Claxton said it is a good time because "a lot of people are turning to (bike riding) as a resource." National statistics, she said, show that ridership is increasing.

"I think the whole green movement that got started years ago never really got off the ground," she said. "But there is more interest now, and I don't think it's going to go away."

Contact Loren Stanton at 385-6068, or e-mail loren This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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