[Source: Kerry Fehr-Snyder, Arizona Republic, June 24, 2008] — Regional transportation planners have updated the Valley’s ballooning map of bicycle routes to help two-wheel travelers better navigate city streets and canal paths to get to work or to school, or for exercise. The new map is the first to include routes tied to the light-rail system. Riders of bicycles will be able to take their bikes aboard when trains start running Dec. 27. The map is the first update in three years. Since 2001, the number of bike lanes, bike routes, undesignated routes, and paved and unpaved trails has grown to 2,522 miles.
Maureen DeCindis of Tempe, an avid cyclist, is happy that the Valley’s bicycling scene is improving. “I’m trying to make people get out there,” said DeCindis, who often bicycles 13 miles from Tempe to her office in downtown Phoenix. “People always say they can’t ride to work or to get groceries or whatever,” she said, “but what I always tell them is to take the easy way.” DeCindis is a transportation planner for the Maricopa Association of Governments, a regional group responsible for Valley-wide transportation planning, including the new regional map of bicycle routes. The agency’s offices are at First Avenue and Van Buren Street. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]
Downtown Voices Coalition 