2024 Master Bike Plan Approved

On January 14th the city council passed the new Master Bike Plan for the city. This is an update of the 2013 master bike plan which added 70 miles of bike lanes, multi use paths, and bike boulevard's to the city. The master bike plan was also essential in assisting the community set up a bike share and played a role in the construction Redbud and Prairie Sunset Trail which all would have been much more difficult without a bike plan in place. Wichita today has 21.6 miles of bike lane, 18.9 miles of bike boulevards, 6.8 miles of paved shoulders, and 85.4 miles of shared us path.

The updated bike plan has 75 miles of recommended bike facilities to be built over the next 10 years with 33 of those miles being highlighted as a priority. However, this plan is completely non binding and has no funding directly attached to it. The plan itself sets the guidelines for the city but funding, design, and timelines for all projects will still require additional city council approval.

From previous resolutions the city has already acquired $1 million to build a connection between the Prairie Sunset Trail and the Delano Trail in 2025. In addition there is $1.8 million for 2029, $2 million in 2031, and $1.5 million in 2033 already approved for future bike infrastructure.

At the Council Meeting 5 of the council members voted to pass the Master Bike Plan with Mayor Wu and Councilmen Glasscock both voting against. Mayor Wu suggested bicycles can use the city sidewalks outside of the cities core and stated concerns with supporting bicycle infrastructure while we have $18 million in deferred maintenance of parking lots and garages that need to be addressed. Councilmen Glasscock also stated concerns with the cost of building bicycle infrastructure and shared his anecdote regarding the only bike wreck he's been in was his own fault.

I'm gonna conclude with a final notes from myself. As it currently stands our city has 85 miles of 10 foot wide multi use paths. Those 85 miles we have slowly added to over the decades and the cost to build them is less than a single highway interchange or the Delano parking garage currently under construction. While car infrastructure is important the cost of multi use paths is a rounding error when compared to the cost of vehicle infrastructure. Our city ranks very low on overall health of our citizens and their are many studies showing their is a direct correlation to outdoor recreational opportunities and overall health of the public. I'll also like to note that the media keeps reporting that our city has 133 miles of bike lanes when in fact we have 21.6 miles of bike lane and an additional 18.9 miles of bike boulevard and that is out of the 5000 miles of total roads in the city. I separate those from the multi use paths because the multi use paths in our city do not use the roadways.