A bicyclist rides through a bicycle-friendly zone in downtown Bloomington in this file photo from Oct. 23, 2013. This bike box near Seventh and Walnut streets allows for bicyclists to stop at the front of the line of vehicles in a green safe zone to prepare for a turn in the next block. Cars are to stop at the solid white line behind the green zone while at a stoplight. Staff photo by Chris Howell
The city of Bloomington has passed another milestone on its path to achieving one of the highest honors awarded by the League of American Bicyclists.
Bloomington was named a gold level bicycle-friendly community for 2014, a level up from its silver rating in 2011. There are 326 bicycle-friendly communities in the United States, and Bloomington is one of only 21 gold communities.
“We are in incredible company with the most bike-friendly communities in the country,” said Vince Caristo, bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for the city of Bloomington. “It’s really a big achievement for Indiana and for Bloomington and the whole state to have a community in the upper echelon for recognition for cycling.”
In 2010, the city of Bloomington formed a Platinum Bicycle Task Force to create a plan with the goal of receiving the league’s platinum award by 2016. The plan, which was adopted by the city council in 2011, also outlined measures for the city to take to reach gold status by 2014.
“It always feels good to meet a goal,” Caristo said. “The award was a nice recognition of the efforts of a lot of people in the past at least four years, but really a much longer time than that.”
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