A safer, more enjoyable path

A safer, more enjoyable path

Thanks to diligent work by Rhode Island communities and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (DOT), Rhode Islanders enjoy more than 50 miles of paved bike paths free of motor vehicles. More than 40 miles of new bike paths are under design.

These paths -- like the Blackstone River Bikeway, the Washington Secondary and East Bay Bike Path -- are well-used recreation and commuting routes and are part of Rhode Island's independent trail system for bike traffic. In short they provide Rhode Islanders with a safe, viable choice for getting to work, school and play.

But wander off these pathways onto the many streets with bike lanes and the picture changes.

Bike lanes connect important routes along city streets that children and adults use to get to work or school, but they are not as safe or enjoyable as passages dedicated to pedaling. Just ask anyone who has maneuvered within theses narrow lanes as they avoided degraded pavement, litter, opening vehicle doors, or aberrant drivers.

Cities and towns play a critical role in the development of bike paths, because the transportation planning process begins in towns. The projects considered for DOT-budgeted road, sidewalk, and bike projects start with ideas from various officials and citizens, go through municipal planning, and are vetted in state administration before making it to DOT's list.

Bottom line, more and better bike paths start with a vision. In the Earth Day Essay Contest of 2010 that CTC cosponsored, dozens of Rhode Island students shared their visions and reflected on how bicycling and walking could be improved in their towns.

By following this link, you can read about Kenny Ferreira's dream of a bike path in Tiverton, and see Alex D. Dicenso's map showing how to make North Kingstown a more bike friendly place.

Do these essays spark some on your own ideas for better biking in your community?

In a future update, CTC will give Rhode Islanders another tool they can use to increase transportation choices in their towns, by providing you with a guide for how the municipal and state transportation planning system works. In the meantime, don't hesitate to contact CTC by e-mailing us at info at rictc.org. We stand ready to assist you.

About the Coalition for Transportation Choices

The Coalition for Transportation Choices (CTC) calls for a 21st century transportation system that enhances our economy and provides all Rhode Islanders with healthy transportation choices.

Rhode Island's 21st century transportation system must provide all people - employees, tourists, youth, elderly, able and disabled - with safe and dependable access to their community's opportunities for work, education, services, and recreation. The system should be considerably less dependent on cars and fossil fuels as well as efficient, effective and easy to use. It should minimize impacts to land, water and air and improve the health and well-being of all Rhode Islanders. Such a system should be sustained with predictable and consistent funding for operation and future growth.

CTC's work is supported by the Rhode Island Foundation, The Prospect Hill Foundation and Third Sector New England's Capacity Building Fund

spablab, Creative Commons.

Coalition For

Transportation Choices Member Groups

* AARP

* Amalgamated Transit Union

* American Lung Association in RI

* Apeiron Institute for Sustainable Living

* Aquidneck Island Planning Commission

* Audubon Society of Rhode Island

* Blueways Alliance

* Blackstone Valley Partnership

* Blackstone Valley Tourism Council

* Blueways Alliance

* Brown emPower

* Childhood Lead Action Project

* City-State, the Urban Design Lab at RISD

* Clean Water Action

* Conservation Law Foundation

* Cornish Associates

* DOT Watch

* East Coast Greenway Alliance

* Ecolect

* Environmental Justice League of RI

* Farm Fresh Rhode Island

* Goodwill Industries

* Grow Smart RI

* Head of the Bay Gateway

* LISC-RI

* Narragansett Bay Estuary Program

* Opportunities Unlimited, Inc.

* Pawtucket Foundation

* Providence Foundation

* Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau

* Recycle-A-Bike

* Rhode Island Bicycle Coalition

* RI Consulting Engineers (RICE)

* Rhode Island Student Climate Coalition

* RI Association of Railroad Passengers

* RI Interfaith Power and Light

* RI Land Trust Council

* RICOSH

* Save The Bay

* SEIU, District 1199

* Sierra Club

* The Providential Gardener

* U.S. Open Cycling

* Working Rhode Island

* Youth in Action