The Buzz: Jackson wins ‘Gold’ cycling community award

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

By Ben Cannon

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Though it is already recognized among the more bicycle-friendly places in America, Jackson Hole has joined an elite group of the most forward-thinking communities regarding proliferation of pathways and a commitment to promote a culture of non-motorized local travel.

It was announced this week that the League of American Cyclists, a Washington D.C.-based bicycling advocacy group, has awarded Jackson “Gold” – the league’s second-highest honor – for its current pathways network, plans to create more and the community goals to increase public use of pathways.

“We’re honored to know that Jackson Hole is among the handful of communities in the United States that have been granted Gold status,” said Brian Schilling, who directs Jackson Hole Community Pathways. The new award, Schilling added, “speaks well about the community as a welcoming and friendly place in general, especially in its involvement to promote walking and biking as viable forms of transportation.”

With the recognition, Jackson becomes one of only a few communities – including San Francisco and Boulder, Colo.– that have earned a gold rating with the league’s Bicycle Friendly America program. Before the new awards were announced this week, only two communities in the country – Portland, Ore., and Davis, Cali. – claimed he program’s top honor, “Platinum.”

Jackson is not a newcomer to the program. It has sat a rung down from Gold, with “Silver” in the Bicycle Friendly America program, since 2006.

The origin of the valley’s burgeoning network of pathways began in the early 90s with an initiative to explore the viability of creating a system of pathways in Jackson and throughout the valley. Jackson Hole Community Pathways was formed in 1994. Since that time, about 33 miles of paved and natural surface pathways have been developed, including the Russ Garaman Trail connecting Jackson, near the new post office, with High School Road and the South Park area, and the Teton Village Road pathway. Though not the work of Community Pathways directly, a new system currently under construction in Grand Teton National Park is seen as a significant development in valley-wide pathways.

And there are other new developments in various stages that will begin to interconnect Jackson and Teton County into a valley-wide network of pathways. The coming years will see a pathway linking Jackson to Grand Teton National Park along U.S. Hwy. 89. In the August primaries, Teton County voters approved a $6 million SPET tax to create a path along Hwy. 22, connecting West Broadway and Wilson over the Snake River Bridge.

In the long term, pathway enthusiasts like Schilling hope to see the expansion of pathways in town in particular. That may include the eventual adoption of a complete streets policy, a new movement in public transportation that shifts away from the tradition of automobile-based street planning,     in favor of opening up new or redeveloping roads to access for pedestrians and bicyclists.

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The Buzz: Jackson wins ‘Gold’ cycling community award | Planet JH News Article: General News

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