BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — PeopleForBikes has announced the recipients of its most recent cycle of Community Grants, with eight awards totaling $51,750.
The PeopleForBikes Community Grants Program has funded more than 350 advocacy and infrastructure initiatives since 1999, including bike lanes, paths, parks and advocacy programs. With this round of grants, PeopleForBikes has now funded at least one project in every U.S. state. Grant recipients this round include:
Bike Friendly Oroville: Routes, Riding and Repairs (Oroville, Wash.): The Borderland Historical Society will encourage bicycle tours and other recreational riders to experience Oroville and the greater North Okanogan County by adding to the bicycle amenities at their tourism center. This grant of $1,250 will help purchase and install a bicycle repair station and make more copies of the local trail map available to visitors.
Central Falls Protected Bike Lane (Central Falls, R.I.): Students at The Learning Community Charter School evaluated how easy it was to bike to school and came to a conclusion: they needed protected bike lanes! PeopleForBikes' grant of $7,500 will help the school, with city and community partners, build 1.5 miles of protected bike lanes that will link seven schools, a park and a playground.
Chestnut Ridge Ride Center (Canal Winchester, Ohio): With PeopleForBikes funding, the Central Ohio Mountain Bike Organization will complete the pump track, skills park, and a 2-mile beginner loop at Chestnut Ridge. Added to the 8 miles of existing single track, these new facilities will greatly improve the only ride center in Central Ohio.
Equitable Bike Parking (Baltimore, Md.): Bikemore will use PeopleForBikes' $7,500 grant to create and manage a community outreach initiative and online bike rack request system to add an additional 100 bike racks in Baltimore City. Baltimore City Department of Transportation will provide the racks, and Bikemore will work to ensure timely installation.
Kickapoo Rail Trail (Mahomet, Ill.): The Kickapoo Rail Trail will offer a key off-road connection between Urbana and Danville, extending 24.5 miles once completed. PeopleForBikes' $10,000 grant to the Forest Preserve Friends Foundation will help fund the ten miles of Phase 1, joining more than $5 million in local, state, and federal dollars.
The Underline (Miami, Fla.): Miami-Dade County's newest multi-use trail will use land running beneath the MetroRail Line for this 10-mile path from the Miami River to Dadeland South Station. With design completed, PeopleForBikes' grant of $10,000 will help Friends of the Underline begin construction of Phase 1 in the Brickell area, Miami's Financial District.
Kalamazoo River Valley Trail – Downtown Connection (Kalamazoo, Mich.): Parks Foundation of Kalamazoo County, in partnership with the City of Kalamazoo, will finally connect two halves of the 22-mile Kalamazoo River Valley Trail with one mile of protected bike lane through the city itself. Using surveys and resident responses to a demonstration project in June 2015, local planners created an on-street link designed to be safe and appealing for all.
Santa Cruz Coastal Rail Trail (Santa Cruz, Calif.): When complete, the Santa Cruz Coastal Rail Trail will extend 32 miles from Davenport to Watsonville. PeopleForBikes' $4,000 grant to Friends of the Rail Trail/Ecology Action will help advance their fundraising efforts and develop community and business support for this transformative project.
