With temperatures warming up and citizens starting their
summer workout plans, city officials are pedaling to distinguish Madison as one
of the most bike-friendly cities in the nation.

The League of American Bicyclists gave Madison a gold rank
for bike friendliness in May 2006, but Mayor Dave Cieslewicz wants to propel
the city’s biking accessibility rating to platinum, the highest possible
ranking.

Davis, Calif., is currently the only city in America with a
platinum rating, according to George Twigg, spokesperson for Cieslewicz.

“Bicycle commuting is a significant and growing part of
our transportation mix,” Cieslewicz said in his State of the City address.

To create the best environment for the growing biking
community in Madison, Cieslewicz organized a group of city officials, cycling
enthusiasts and citizens in 2006 to make recommendations as to how to take
Madison from gold to platinum.

The City Council adopted recommendations from the Platinum
Biking City Planning Committee at the April 8 meeting.

President of Downtown Madison, Inc., Susan Schmitz, also a
member on the committee, said the list of more than 100 recommendations range
from connecting gaps in bike paths to improve commuting ease, to widening and
resurfacing roads to improve safety for bikers.

“We might not get all of them accomplished for 10 to 15
years, but at least we have a framework,” Schmitz said, adding the
committee picked a top 12 list of recommendations to focus on in the near
future.

According to the committee’s final report on ways to make
Madison the best bicycle city in the country, updating signage to direct bikers
on the quickest paths to destinations, routes around construction zones and
where to find appropriate parking is a priority.

Ald. Mark Clear, District 19, the alder representative for
the platinum committee in the last year, said Cieslewicz is also interested in
implementing “Sunday parkways.”

The idea, Clear said, is to take a section of a street and
close it off to cars for a period of time and turn it into a bike-only street.
The challenge is finding a street that can be closed without interrupting
traffic, he added.

Clear said the mayor’s office and committee chairs are
selecting about 20 recommendations to set aside funding for in the 2009-10
budget.

“Some of these recommendations are quick and easy, and
some of them are really broad things that would go into effect
perpetually,” Clear said.

Schmitz said bicycling would be have to be an integral part
of Regional Transit Authority proposed in Dane County.

The RTA is a proposed plan to accommodate the growing Dane
County population with an all-purpose transportation system including a
commuter rail line.

“If you are talking about a good regional transit
system, you are talking about good roads with bike lanes,” Schmitz said.
“You’re talking about a good metro system, a good bicycling system,
commuter rail and pedestrians.”

Educating motorists and bikers about bike safety is another
goal for the committee. Schmitz said for everyone to exist on the roads safely,
even bikers need to refresh on biking rules.

“Really, the idea is to improve the climate for
bicycling,” Clear said. “If we get platinum status, great; if we
don’t, we’ll still have done great things for Madison.”