When the last 200 feet of the four-mile cross-Alameda trail was opened, Streetsblog was quick to celebrate that latest accomplishment from the island city of Alameda. Now the city announced it is getting national recognition as well, from the League of American Bicyclists.
From a recent statement:
The City of Alameda received the League of American Bicyclists’ Gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) Award for our efforts to build better places for people to bike — a distinction held by only 32 cities nationwide. Alameda’s journey to this honor reflects a decade of steady progress, starting with a Bronze Award in 2016 and a Silver Award in 2021.
In just the past few years, the City of Alameda made major safety upgrades to Central Avenue and added a bike and pedestrian water shuttle between Western Alameda and Oakland. They also installed Dutch-style, sidewalk-level protected bike lanes and intersections around "the Point" development.
And those are just the recent improvements. Over ten years ago, Alameda installed the two-mile Shoreline Drive protected bike lane, one of the first and most substantial protected lanes in the Bay Area. Back in 2009, the city installed the Fernside protected bike lane.
"More than 40 percent of Alameda students walk and bike to school, and we are committed to making sure they get there safely," stated Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft. "This includes building 'complete streets' and expanding Neighborhood Greenways to ensure that residents, workers, and visitors can travel safely to school, work, shopping, and dining across our beautiful island."
"Biking protects our environment, keeps us healthy, and saves Alamedans money. That’s why I’m so proud of Alameda’s commitment to making bicycling safe, easy, and comfortable for people of all ages and abilities," said Assemblymember Mia Bonta.
Of course, not everything in Alameda is wine and roses. The city still has traffic engineers who prioritize throughput over safety. And the automobile continues to dominate on way too much of the island. But the effort continues.
The city also acknowledged the Alameda County Safe Routes to Schools program and the bike safety education classes provided by Bike East Bay. And of course, the advocacy of Bike Walk Alameda, without which many of these projects wouldn't have happened.
