Jesse Mestrovic wants to hear from you!
Hoping to become a Bike Friendly Community (BFC), the City of Wheeling is seeking input from area bicyclists.
According to Mestrovic, Wheeling’s director of parks and recreation, the city has submitted an application to the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) to be recognized as a BFC.
What does it mean to be a BFC?
“It means a lot of things,” Mestrovic says.
“The League of American Cyclists represents bicyclists everywhere in a movement to create safer roads, stronger communities and a Bicycle Friendly America. Communities that get recognized stand out and use the status as recruitment and retention tools for civic and business leaders. These communities celebrate as a mode to improving public health, reducing traffic congestion, improving air quality and improving quality of life.”
Mestrovic explained that the designation as a BFC will not only bring additional funding to the city, but “more importantly, it builds recognition of our current accomplishments and adds the positive momentum for our developing cycling culture. The partnerships and the overall bicycle awareness enhances our safety and creates more opportunities for bicycling.”
By identifying the key metrics set forth by the LAB, it helps the city build political and community support for future bicycle infrastructure.
“For Wheeling riders specifically, it helps carry our momentum forward in our goals to get more people on bikes more often. Bicycling brings people together and helps our community become safer, stranger and better connected,” he said.
The survey will help the LAB to get a better understanding of bicyclists’ experiences in the city.
“Anytime we can engage our citizens and garner their feedback the better. We want to hear from our local bicycling users and how we can better improve our infrastructure. The more baseline data we can obtain the more prepared we can be as we plan for the future,” Mestrovic said.
“Whether you bike every day or only occasionally, we encourage you to fill out the survey and please share it with your friends and neighbors as well.”
Mestrovic noted the survey, available online, takes less than five minutes to complete and will remain open through Sunday, March 22.