On March 14, over a half dozen bicycle enthusiasts and city officials from Provo attended this year’s summit at the Marriott Ogden Courtyard, a short ride from the Ogden Frontrunner Station. The highlight of the summit was without question hearing from our own one and only Mayor John Curtis, a true bicycle enthusiast. Here are what some of the Provo participants learned:

Christopher Blinzinger

(Photo: Chris and Kendra Blinzinger on a bicycle tour of the Pacific Coast)

I attended a breakout session for the county I live in. I was impressed that UDOT is more than happy to hear and assist with enhancements for bike friendly roads. While funding is limited, UDOT asks local governments to include them in their planning because when they work together, they can incorporate enhancements into planned projects. When they are not involved with community planning, the community will either not receive assistance with their projects and have to fund 100% of that project or they will not complete that project because of lack of funding.

They are true planning partners for bike friendly communities and communities who want to become bike friendly. Additionally I saw a planner from the US Forest Service in attendance. This suggests that the USFS is may be a potential partner for bicycle accommodations in and around Forest Service properties. It is obvious that it is in the bike community’s best interest to involved. Partners in their ideas and projects to get the most bang for the buck. Great conference.

Naomi Johnson

Whether you are an engineer, a health specialist, or a bicycling enthusiast, the Utah Bike Summit has something for you! I enjoyed both the breadth of the discussions and presentations. The two things that will stick with me the most were the Mayor John Curtis’ presentation about working with elected officials and a presentation about tactical urbanism by Mike Lydon.

Mayor Curtis focused on the importance of becoming friends with public officials. Before you approach them with an idea, conduct research to find out what has been tried before. You don’t want to recommend something that was already attempted unsuccessfully! Start the conversation off by complimenting the elected and city officials for the things that they have done to help the bicycling community instead of demanding to see the changes you want. Then, clearly state the things you would like to see happen. Mayor Curtis also suggested thinking outside of the box: it’s quite likely they haven’t regularly ridden a bike since they were a teenager. Invite them to go on a bike ride or test ride a new bike from a local shop. Emphasize quality of life issues and how safer roads will strengthen the community.

Mike Lydon was the summit’s keynote speaker. He is an urban planner from New York City who specializes in “Tactical Urbanism.” This was a subject I knew very little about before the summit. Essentially, it’s a technique to make cities more people-friendly! They’ve done everything from widening bike lanes to turning parking into park space. He also talked about how typical people can get started doing projects like this. As a matter of fact, the Utah Department of Health has opened applications for a mini-grant! Is anyone else ready to apply? Let’s keep changing Provo! Bike on!

Austin Taylor

The Utah Bike Summit 2017 was a great reminder of why we advocate for cycling. It’s always reassuring to see changemakers come together to share strategies and partner up to make Utah a more bikeable state. My favorite part was hearing from Carlos Braceras, Director of UDOT. He shared with us a story of retrieving the bike he had as a kid at his mother’s house when she passed away not long ago. He shipped it home and restored it because of how much it meant to him; he even tried to convince his wife to let him hang it on the living room wall – to no avail.

He then proceeded to update us on some UDOT projects and told us how now 9 out of 10 people in Utah live in an urban environment, making biking, walking, and transit ideal modes of transportation. In 35 years, Utah’s population will likely double and Carlos assured us he’s not hoping our miles of road will.

Above all, I’m pleased to see that many are rallying for the cause. Mayor Curtis once told me that we have a winning cause, and I’m happy to be on the winning team fighting for active transportation.

Aaron Skabelund

Three things stood out for me:

• UDOT, from its top echelons to its regional offices, is an agent of bicycle-friendly change. UDOT Director Braceras’ presentation and the breakout sessions in which each regional office met with its local partners amply illustrated that. Much of the talk the Region Three session was about how their team has very effectively worked with Provo officials and advocates on projects such as the North University buffered bike lanes and 300 South bike lanes and bike-friendly intersection. More projects like the Bulldog Blvd protected bike lanes (2018), the Provo River Trail extension (2019), and bikes lanes on 500 West/State Street (2019?) are in the pipeline thanks to this partnership.
• Provo is regarded as a model. Braceras gave a shot out to Mayor Curtis as a “visionary” for his support of active transportation and transit. And the room was packed for Mayor Curtis’ presentation.

Photos courtesy of David Iltis/cyclingutah.com

• Public outreach in the form of tactical urbanist demonstrations should be a part of very major active transportation project to educate and build support for change. After Mike Lydon’s keynote, the Utah Department of Health announced a mini-grant opportunity to engage the public with new active transportation ideas. The Provo Bicycle Committee plans on applying for one of these to use for a project already in the works or for another one we would like to see happen in the next few years.

In short, the summit offered lots of ideas to put into practice to make Provo and Utah County an even better place to live.

Congratulations to the Provo Bicycle Committee! This dedicated group was recently recognized for their tireless efforts with the 2016 Local Advocacy Award from Bike Utah.

A delegate from the committee received the award on behalf of the group, including current chair Aaron Skabelund and former chair Zac Whitmore.

If you’re a part of the committee, give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back! Because of you, we’ve made some incredible progress. If you’d like to join in the fun, sign up to receive updates about committee meetings and projects. Everyone is invited to participate and give what they can.

Provo Bicycle Committee Chair, Aaron Skabelund, recently submitted the Bicycle-Friendly Community application to the League of American Bicyclists. A BIG THANKS to the dozens of folks in the Committee who helped prepare the application during and outside of our monthly meetings since the beginning of the year, and a BIGGER THANKS to them and others for all you have done over the last several years to actually make Provo more bicycle-friendly.

Four years ago, the league recognized Provo as a bronze-status Bicycle-Friendly Community. This month was the deadline to renew that status and request to move up in rank. We are of course aiming for a gold but what really matters is how the application process actually helps us make Provo a more bicycle-friendly community. We certainly have made a lot of progress over the last four years thanks to everyone’s efforts and the forward-looking leadership of Mayor John Curtis, the city council, and city engineering, planning, parks and rec, police, and economic development officials who have worked closely with the Committee (and the Collective) to improve Provo’s quality of life for everyone.

We look forward to applying again in several years when a number of transformative projects, such as the Bulldog Blvd protected bike lanes, the 200 East Neighborhood Greenway, and BRT, are complete.

By Aaron Skabelund, Provo Bicycle Committee Chair

Every summer and fall, when Provo City Public Works performs work on roads, city engineers seek to implement recommendations for bicycle lanes called for by the Bicycle Master Plan, adopted by the city council in 2014. Although the bicycling community would like change to happen even faster and more dramatically, we are thankful to Engineering for the progress that the city is making in creating a truly integrated network of lanes and trails that residents can use for both bicycling—both recreation and utilitarian (riding to school, work, and to run errands).

At this month’s committee meeting, city traffic engineers officially—and compared to past years—belatedly announced this summer’s bike lane improvements. But it was worth the wait. Here are some of this year’s projects (some of which are well underway now):

– Bike lanes on 500 West from 300 South to the new Westside Connector at about 2000 South. (This one is huge! Finally residents of southwest Provo will have a safe option to ride into the city center.)

– Lanes on Indian Hills Drive/2780 North.

– Lanes on 900 West between Center Street and 500 North (another really important stretch).

In addition, Matt Parker, UDOT’s Region Three’s bicycle coordinator announced at the meeting that UDOT would be installing bike lanes on University Avenue from near the mouth of Provo Canyon all the way down to 700 North this fall.

We would also like to publicly—and yes, belatedly—thank Public Works for the improvements that were completed last year, in 2015. They included:

The addition of bike lanes on 2300 North and 1450 East near Rock Canyon

Looking east on 2300 North

Headed west on 2300 North (the Provo Temple is on the left)

At the intersection of 2300 North/1450 East and the road to the Rock Canyon parking lot

Facing the other direction near the intersection of 2300 North/1450 East and road to the Rock Canyon parking lot

Climbing south on 1450 East

Again, the view to the north on 1450 East

The extension of the lanes on 3700 North to the intersection at University Avenue (where Will’s Pit Stop is).

Looking toward 50 West and University Avenue on 3700 North (on an inversion day when more people besides the photographer need be bicycling)

The extension of the lanes on 620 North to Geneva Road eliminating a one to two block gap

Heading west on 620 North approaching Geneva Road

620 North and Geneva Road

A reconfiguration of the bike lanes (through the elimination of the center median and restoration of on-street parking) on Independence Avenue from Center Street to 820 West.

Independence Avenue headed south close to Center Street

Independence Avenue near 500 North

Independence Avenue near Freedom Prep Academy just south of 820 North

Again, a huge thank you to everyone in Provo who is working on making our streets safer for all road users. Get out and ride the new lanes (and check out the roads where we’ll be seeing even more lanes soon).