Comments (0) | |

Monday, Mar. 16, 2009

Event focuses on push for bike-friendly, greener city

Bike Week was one of the first things the College Hill Corridor Commission created when it first organized more than a year ago.

The week is designed to encourage Mercer students and neighborhood residents to use bicycles over automobiles. Now, with the latest draft of the corridor’s master plan on the desks of city and county officials awaiting approval, the second annual Bike Week kicks off today. It’s symbolic of how far the commission has progressed with its plans.

“It’s exciting, gratifying to have the second annual anything,” said Sarah Gerwig-Moore, a Mercer University law professor who serves as co-chairwoman for the commission. “Bike Week is something we want to see grow.”

Bike Week encourages Mercer students and faculty to use their bicycles to commute between the campus and downtown Macon, said Josh Rogers, the commission’s executive director.

“We’ve added new events, hoping to get more people out this year,” Rogers said. “It’s only a mile from wherever you go on campus to wherever you go downtown.”

One of the key elements of the master plan, designed by the Philadelphia-based firm Interface Studio, is to come up with ways that will increase bicycle and foot traffic in the corridor area while simultaneously reducing automobile traffic. The idea, according to the plan, is to create a safer and greener environment.

Rogers said events like Bike Week have a sort of chicken-and-egg effect. People participating in Bike Week will heighten the awareness for bike paths, which will lead to more ridership, which in turn will lead to even more bike paths. He also cited a study conducted recently in Toronto that indicated bike lanes are good for business districts, attracting more customers.

Though the master plan has yet to receive final approval, Rogers said the commission has already recruited more than 75 volunteers from the campus and the community surrounding it. Those volunteers will serve on their choice of five committees:

Ÿ The Basics, which creates a brand for the corridor and examines ways to keep it clean and safe.

Ÿ The Vibe, which works to create a “college-town cool” for the corridor area.

Ÿ The Connection, which focuses on the roads and sidewalks in the corridor area.

Ÿ The Environment, which will work toward adding more trees and greenery to the corridor.

Ÿ The Look, which emphasizes developing a marketing packet to attract businesses.

Rogers said volunteers already are looking at programs that can be set up for free or very little cost. Bike Week is among the programs, as is an online guide to Macon created for college students that’s put together by a Mercer journalism class.

Bill Causey, manager of the city’s engineering department, serves as the head of The Connection committee. He said he hopes Bike Week raises awareness around town for the need for bike lanes.

“We’re trying to figure out ways to get funding for bike lanes,” he said. “The purpose (of Bike Week) is to attract younger people. Hopefully, we’ll get enough to have an impact. ... We need people to get behind this.”

The commission is running the event with Mercer’s Bear Bike Program, which takes used and donated bicycle parts to refurbish old bicycles. Those rebuilt bikes are lent to Mercer staff and students. All the bikes for this week’s events already have been signed out, Rogers said.

Bike Week also will feature an adult soap box derby Wednesday, with teams from Mercer putting together their own racers. Rogers said the idea came from Interface, which spotlighted a similar event in Philadelphia that gained a lot of participation.

Organizers also have partnered with several downtown businesses to give coupons to people who ride a bike to the business during the week, Gerwig-Moore said.

The commission was scheduled to present details of the latest master plan to public officials Friday evening, including members of the Macon City Council, the Bibb County Commission, the school board and the local delegation to the General Assembly. The officials will then provide feedback, which will then be incorporated into the final draft of the master plan, Rogers said.

The commission, which was created as a partnership between the city of Macon and Mercer, is in the process of undergoing some changes. Commission Co-chairman Kevin Dubose, representing the city, stepped down after resigning as Macon’s Director of Economic & Community Development department last month. Rogers, who works in that department, will be resigning this week to take over as executive director of Historic Macon, meaning he will step down from the commission’s board as well.

“It’s tough, because we all operated so well together,” Gerwig-Moore said. “But we have a strong volunteer corps and a lot of neighborhood support. I feel like these folks have started to support what we’ve done. We still have a very active board.”

To contact writer Phillip Ramati, call 744-4334.