Vienna Puts Pedal to the Metal, Comes up Bronze

From Town of Vienna: Mayor Laurie DiRocco announced at last night’s Town Council meeting that the Town of Vienna has been recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as a bronze level Bicycle Friendly Community. This difficult-to-achieve recognition is shared by 11 other communities in Virginia and a total of 404 communities nationwide.

The Bicycle Friendly Community designation recognizes Vienna’s commitment to improving conditions for bicycling through investment in bicycling promotion, education programs, infrastructure, and pro-bicycling policies.

DiRocco says: “We recognize that by supporting bicycling we can improve the environment as well as the health and well-being of residents, reduce congestion and automobile parking demands, increase opportunities for residents of all ages to participate socially and economically in the community, and encourage additional choices in travel modes, particularly among seniors and children.”

“We applaud these communities for making bicycling a safe and convenient option for transportation and recreation,” says Bill Nesper, vice president of programs at the League of American Bicyclists. “We are encouraged by the growing number of leaders who see bicycling as a way to build more vibrant, healthy, sustainable, and connected communities.”

The Town’s Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) took the lead in seeking the Bicycle Friendly Community award, submitting an application in August. Among Vienna’s bicycle-friendly achievements and characteristics, notes BAC Chair Beth Eachus, are programs such as its bike rodeo, participation in bike-to-school and bike-to-work events, wayfinding signage, the W&OD trail, and the fact that, with the exception of Maple Avenue and Nutley Street, the speed limit throughout Town is 25 miles per hour.

“This award reflects the commitment that the Town has made to making our community bike friendly,” says Eachus.

Charlie Strunk, the BAC member who drafted the Bicycle Friendly Community application, notes that the number of Vienna children riding bicycles to school – on a daily basis not just on designated bike-to-school days – has quadrupled in the past two years.

The BAC members point out that 40% of all motorized vehicle trips are to destinations less than 2 miles away. “You can pretty much go anywhere in Vienna in less than 2 miles,” says Eachus.

Strunk adds: “One of our committee goals is to install more bike racks throughout Town to encourage people to use bikes for transportation purposes as well as recreation.”

Moving forward, Vienna’s BAC will continue to encourage biking as a realistic alternative transportation option and work to implement some of the recommendations from the League of American Bicyclists to achieve silver certification, including additional bicycle safety education programs and networks to better utilize low-speed streets.

Vienna’s Bicycle Advisory Committee members are Scott Allison, Beth Eachus (chair), Tim Fricker, Dan Mielke, Jonathan Rak, and Charlie Strunk (vice chair).

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