Bellingham City Council approved two master plans that will shape the experience of cyclists and pedestrians in the city for the next decade.
Two years in the making, council members unanimously approved the 2024 Bicycle Master Plan and 2024 Pedestrian Master Plan with little discussion at a Monday, May 20 meeting. Both plans have four goals: safety, equity, connectivity and increasing ridership/walking trips, with policy, program and network expansion recommendations attached.
The plans will serve as guiding documents for bicycle and pedestrian projects over the next 10 years. According to the 2023 Transportation Report on Annual Mobility, an average of 5.5% of people in Bellingham walked to work between 2017 and 2021, while 4.6% biked.
Developed by city staff with input from community members, the new Bicycle Master Plan recommends 196 new on-street connections, 20 new off-street connections, 34 new spot improvements and 46 upgrades to existing bikeways. The new Pedestrian Master Plan recommends 84 “crossing enhancement” projects, 121 pedestrian connection projects and 18 off-street connections.
Implementation of these projects will be expensive and ambitious, both plans note. Implementing all recommended pedestrian projects would cost $214.5 million, while implementing all recommended bicycle projects would cost the city $520 million. Over the next 10 years, the city only has about $43.5 million dedicated to bike and pedestrian projects, according to the plans.
In order to allow for more of the projects to be implemented, the plans prioritize the projects and recommend alternative funding sources like state or federal funding, or other grants.
Included in the plans are recommendations for new programs and for expansions of existing programs. Both recommend a reduction of driving speeds throughout the city to prioritize pedestrian and cyclist safety, as well as an expansion of Safe Routes to School programs to encourage more students and families to walk or bike to school.
The Bicycle Master Plan also recommends the implementation of a bike or scooter share, and the Pedestrian Master Plan recommends the city undertake more traffic safety campaigns and transit incentives, among others.
The resolution approved by council adopts the plan and approves implementation of the Bicycle Master Plan into the city’s six-year transportation improvement plan, and work with the Transportation Commission to recommend measures and targets that can be used to track the plan.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
