Location: Manhattan

Manhattan, the Newest Bicycle Friendly Community in Kansas!

Manhattan, Kansas Bicycle Friendly Community BronzeThe League of American Bicyclists just announced their Spring 2012 honorees for Bicycle Friendly Communities program, and Kansas has just earned its third award!

Manhattan, Kansas earned the bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community award, joining Lawrence and Shawnee (both at bronze level as well) as bicycle-friendly communities in the state of Kansas, along with Leawood on the “Honorable Mention” list.

There have been so many great bicycling things happening in Manhattan recently, and to have the good news capped off with the Bicycle Friendly Community designation is quite exciting. Congratulations to the Little Apple!

Manhattan, KansasMomentum has been building in Manhattan over the last few years, leading to this designation. Some of the great things happening in the area include:

Elsewhere Around The Region

Bicycle Friendly CommunitiesManhattan is not the only community in the state or region to receive good news.

The bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community designation for Lawrence, Kansas was renewed, as was the same award for Arvada CO. Colorado Springs CO stayed at silver, Durango CO moved up from silver to gold, and Longmont CO moved up from bronze to silver.

New to the list of Bicycle Friendly Communities are Aspen and Gunnison Colorado, both rated at silver, and Cedar Rapids IA, Lincoln NE, Summit City CO, and University Heights IA at bronze.

West Des Moines IA and Pueblo CO earned Honorable Mentions.

Read more from the League of American Bicyclists: Congratulations to New and Renewed Bicycle Friendly Communities! and see the full Spring 2012 list.

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About The Author

By Randy Rasa, editor/webmaster at Kansas Cyclist, the web's premier Kansas cycling information site, featuring authoritative guides to Kansas cycling clubs, bike shops, organized bike rides, touring, trails, and much more. [learn more]

3 responses to “Manhattan, the Newest Bicycle Friendly Community in Kansas!”

  1. Brian says:

    Wow, I live in Manhattan and love it here. I truly appreciate how the city is making efforts to make it a more bicycle and pedestrian friendly community. However to claim we are in the same league as Lawrence or Shawnee or even better yet Lincoln, NE just seems wrong. I truly hope we get there but intentions alone shouldn’t be what this is based on but rather the end results.

  2. Ben says:

    Well, if this gets us motivated to actually work on our infrastructure for bicycle riding here in Manhattan. I’m an avid rider (and live in Manhattan) and I don’t ride through town because it is too dangerous. There aren’t enough safe routes in Manhattan to ride. If this sparks more interest in working on the cycling infrastructure that would be great! We have a plan, now if we can actually work on it, now that would be sweet.

    Now that we’ve been recognized by the number of people who cycle, maybe that will get our town leaders to recognize and put some money forward to get that infrastructure worked on so we have a safe community to ride in.

  3. Lynda says:

    This announcement came out after the Chamber’s Get 2 It event occurred in early May. Public comments were collected from one of the event booths that asked “what do you like about Manhattan” and “what would you like improved in Manhattan”. Many said Manhattan needed to improve their bike routes. As a resident of Manhattan, I agree. Main travel routes do not have bike lanes or the streets are too narrow to accommodate bike lanes.