New Britain Named Bike Friendly Community
By David Huck | Correspondent at November 20, 2023 | 6:15 pm | Print
The city’s focus in recent years on improving its bike infrastructure has paid off: the Hardware City has joined a select group of towns in Connecticut that are considered bike friendly.
The League of American Bicyclists recently gave the city a “bronze” designation, it’s entry-level accreditation. The award recognizes the city’s commitment to improving conditions for cyclists through investment in bicycling promotion, education programs, infrastructure, and pro-bicycling policies, the group said.
“We’re really happy that we got it,” said Director of Public Works, Mark Moriarty. “It’s a tremendous accomplishment and a great thing for the city. It shows that the city has a strong commitment to a high quality of life.”
The other bike friendly communities in the state include Simsbury, South Windsor, Farmington, West Hartford, and New Haven.
“Other cities that have this designation in Connecticut are more affluent communities” Moriarty noted. “I’m sure we are setting an example for other cities to follow.”
In recent years, the city has installed over 30 miles of bike lanes, added bike racks, installed signage, hosted bike to work events, adopted bicycle friendly plans, held an inaugural Hardware City Bike Tour that attracted around 100 cyclists.
City officials welcomed the recognition for their hard work and commitment of volunteers, such as the active Bike New Britain advocacy group.
“Through our Bike New Britain initiative, we’ve made becoming a bicycle friendly community a high priority in New Britain. This is about bringing a higher and more healthy quality of life to the city, and by doing so making it an even better place to live, work, and play,” Mayor Erin Stewart said. “We’ve made great progress so far with Bike New Britain, and the League of American Bicyclist’s Bicycle Friendly Community designation is a great testament to the efforts of the people from our community that brought got us here. We’re just getting started though, and more and more great things are to come.”
More than 800 communities have applied to receive the bike-friendly designation from the organization, but only 326 awards have been given out.
“Visionary community leaders are recognizing the real-time and long term impact that a culture of bicycling can create,” said Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists. “We applaud this new round of communities for investing in a more sustainable future for the country and a healthier future for their residents and beyond.”
According to the bicycle league’s score card, the percentage of daily cyclists among the city’s 73,153 residents is 0.13 percent, slightly lower than the 3.5 average of cities who have a “silver” level designation. The city scored a three out of possible 10 points in the areas of encouraging a bicycle culture and for its network and connectivity of bike infrastructure. Informing motorists about bicycle safety, scored the city a 2 out possible 10 points. The police department was also praised for its strong promotion of bicycle safety and cyclists rights.
The bicycle infrastructure plan came out of the city’s move toward “complete streets” initiative. It started with adding bike lanes downtown, but officials felt they needed to make connections to key destinations like schools and parks to truly make the network of lanes functional.
Moriarty says he is intent on working towards the higher, silver level designation. Part of that will involve reaching different factions of cyclists, from casual bicyclists to more seasoned riders.
“I feel like we have good infrastructure in place and we will continue to work on that,” Moriarty said. “We’re trying to build alliances with other agencies that really have the same end goals as us.”
Officials have submitted a grant application to get funding for the creation of a paved bike trail similar to ones that cut through woods in Simsbury and Farmington. The trail would be able to accommodate a variety of users, from children to families. The group Bike Walk Connecticut is also teaming up with the city to offer an expanded Hardware City Bike Tour next year around the same weekend as Oktoberfest.
The city has also submitted a letter of support for the Connecticut Cycling Advancement Program, which works with high school students to get them more involved in the sport of cycling. If the group receives the grant they are applying for, Moriarty said CCAP would work with the city to offer bicycling-related programs through the recreational department and high school.
Also in 2015, the city will host several more amateur and professional bike races at Walnut Hill Park, bringing the total to five events.
Moriarty said that bike friendly communities offer a higher quality of life for residents, many of whom adopt more active and healthier life styles. The designation is also something that people from outside the city, such as real estate developers and potential home owners, take notice of, he added.
Riding his own bike around the city recently, Moriarty said he has found it “refreshing” seeing people using bikes now on a “different level” than only two years ago. People are using bikes beyond just BMX-style bikes on the sidewalks, he said.
“There is clearly a ‘build it and they will come’ kind of thing happening here,” he said.
