Highland Park: first Family-Friendly Bikeways community

In recent months, Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering and members of city council unanimously accepted an agreement to be a Family-Friendly Bikeways community.  

In doing so, this North Shore community becomes the first Chicago suburb to collaborate with the Active Transportation Alliance on our campaign to build networks of bikeways that are comfortable places for people of all ages and abilities — everyone — to ride a bike!  

The new partnership furthers the goals of Highland Park’s Bike-Walk 2030 plan to increase enjoyment, safety and access for people biking and walking — especially children and senior citizens.  

What are Family Friendly Bikeways? They are safe, comfortable routes for everyone to bike, either physically separated from cars or on side-streets, with designs that limit the number of cars and keep speeds low. They provide safe passage through intersections and across busy streets

Highland Park City Planner Lee Smith, along with members of the engineering and community development staff, worked on the agreement. 

The city’s Bike Walk Advisory Group has already identified its first Family-Friendly Bikeway and some suggested that it should be an “ice cream route” so that that people can enjoy ice cream at the beginning or end of their rides.

Next steps include taking a bike ride on the route with Active Trans planners to identify sections that may be challenging to ride, and holding a community planning workshop in the summer to share the bikeway route with residents and get their feedback about making it a great place to bike. 

In a mayoral proclaimation, Highland Park has deemed May as Bike Month — as a way to celebrate the progress the community has made and look toward getting more residents choosing biking for transportation and recreation.   

Congratulations to Highland Park for taking these great steps toward improving biking for everyone! 

In other Highland Park biking news, Highland Park is holding a Bike Fair on May 16. There will be a free community ride, a bike maintanence clinic, a children's bike rodeo, an opportunity to drop off bike donations and other activites geared for the entire family.