• Published September 16 2016

    U.S. DOT recognizes city for work on Ped-bike Initiative

    The U.S. Department of Transportation recognized Bellevue Friday for its work in collecting data to use in its Pedestrian and Bicycle Implementation Initiative.

    The awards program recognizes communities that have made significant progress in advancing pedestrian and bicyclist safety.

    Councilmember Lynne Robinson accepted the Mayor's Challenge Award on behalf of the city at the DOT's Summit for Safer People, Safer Streets in Washington D.C. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx presented the award.

    "We're honored to receive USDOT recognition for our efforts to collect useful data," Robinson said. "This work not only makes our community safer, it's an economic development tool. Business leaders and employees often list a safe, accessible pedestrian and bicycle system as a desirable amenity."

    Bellevue was one of just seven smaller cities nationwide to win a Mayor's Challenge Award, out of 246 small and large cities participating in the DOT's Safer People, Safer Streets Initiative. It was the only small city to win in the data collection category.

    Mayor John Stokes said: "This is an exciting moment for Bellevue as we roll out important pedestrian and bicycle projects. Our efforts to collect useful data will help guide good investments, and ultimately make it safer to walk and bike in our city."

    Bellevue's Pedestrian and Bicycle Implementation Initiative intends to improve safety for people of all ages and abilities who walk and bike in Bellevue. The initiative team collected data through a variety of methods, including:

    • An assessment from 2006-2015 of non-motorized collisions using the USDOT's Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool system;
    • Keypad polling and comment cards at 20 public meetings and an open house that attracted 140 attendees;
    • Wikimap online surveys in which over 700 people identified more than 1,600 locations citywide they felt were unsafe for walking and bicycling. In a second Wikimap, 120 people commented on designs for 52 proposed projects to improve safety; and
    • Automated bicycle and pedestrian counters, and traffic camera video.

    Based on the data, the team prioritized improvements and developed a Bicycle Rapid Implementation Program to guide citywide investments in the bicycle network. The program aims to expand the system from 42 miles to more than 70 miles of conventional bike lanes, separated lanes or off-street paths, including the completion of four cross-city bicycle corridors.

    USDOT has additional information about Bellevue's winning entry for the Mayor's Challenge.