The League of American Bicyclists
League of American Bicyclists announces Sanibel's designation as a 'Bicycle Friendly Community'
Today, the League of American Bicyclists recognized the City of Sanibel with a “Gold” Bicycle Friendly Community (BFBSM) award. In 2010 Sanibel was awarded the “Bronze” designation and in 2014 was one of only four Florida cities designated as a “Silver” status by the League of American Bicyclists. The Villages is the only other Florida community to hold the prestigious “Gold” designation.
Upon announcing the designation, Sanibel Mayor Kevin Ruane stated, “We invest heavily and systematically into our Shared Use Path system as a City-wide alternative to motorized transportation. We are fortunate to have many partners who support the City’s efforts to focus on the health benefits and safety of biking on Sanibel. To have our collective efforts recognized nationally as one of the nation’s premier programs is a source of community pride for Sanibel.”
With the announcement of 61 new and renewing BFCs today, the City of Sanibel joins a leading group of communities in every state that are transforming the American landscape. “We applaud these communities for making bicycling a safe and convenient option for transportation and recreation,” said Bill Nesper, Executive Director 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 and be a part of the solution to many complex challenges faced at both the community and national levels. We look forward to continuing to work with these communities as we move closer to our mission of creating a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone.”
According to the league, "A Bicycle Friendly
Community welcomes cyclists by providing safe accommodation for cycling and encouraging people to bike for transportation and recreation."
"We applaud the Sanibel city manager and the Sanibel City Council for submitting the application, which was essentially an audit of its engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation (the five Es) efforts to promote bicycling," said Darla Letourneau of local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy group, BikeWalkLee
"Today's 23-mile shared use path system began as a result of citizen efforts in 1974-75 that envisioned Sanibel as a bicycle/pedestrian-friendly community. By 1996, the 23-mile path system which exists today was completed. With encouragement and support from the Sanibel Bicycle Club, the city spent three years developing a comprehensive shared use path master plan, which envisions further improvements in the system," said Letourneau. "The Sanibel Bicycle Club, one of BikeWalkLee's partners, is to be commended for its long-standing work with the city of Sanibel to make the island a bicycle-friendly community."
Billy's Bike Shop and Billy's Rentals donate funds to improve and maintain Sanibel's path system and is also a partner with BikeWalkLee. "We are excited for Sanibel's designation which will also help identify Sanibel as a recreational vacation destination to our potential visitors. I plan to work with the community to improve bicycle parking on the island and create a bike parking system for our large community," said Billy Kirkland.