Great Rivers Greenway is working with a variety of public agencies, local governments and bicycle advocates to develop the St. Louis Bicycle Master Plan (BMP) which will cover St. Louis and St. Charles Counties and the City of St. Louis. 

The goal of the BMP is a more connected region where more citizens ride their bikes safely to work, for shopping, for school and to the off-road network of trails and regional parks.  We are really excited about this project and what it will do for the entire community.  Our approach will be to work with experts and the public to identify specific on-street bicycle routes that function as part of the overall transportation system so actions in one community complement those in another and we are all moving together to implement a regional network.  That is a very brief explanation but hopefully enough to give you a sense of what we are doing.

More information on the BMP is at www.stlbikeplan.com.  The project is just getting underway and one of our first steps is to establish the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC).  The CAC will be assisting our team throughout the process and we are very interested in getting citizens from throughout the region to participate and not necessarily everyday bicycle users.  It is important that we identify a system of on-streets bicycle routes that users with various levels of experience would be comfortable riding. 

CAC members will be asked to attend 6 to 8 meetings between March and December 2010.  Meetings will be about 1.5 hours and in the evenings after work with light refreshments. 

In between CAC meetings, we’ll be sending information for members to review.   We would also ask members to share information and get input on decisions from individuals and groups to which they belong who might be interested – professional organizations, neighborhood organizations, friends, co-workers, etc.  We want our CAC members to help us spread the word and maximize public input as the Plan is developed.

The CAC application deadline is Friday, February 19 and can be found online at www.stlbikeplan.com.     

Applications will be reviewed in the last half of February and the first CAC meeting is tentatively scheduled for March.  If you are not interested in serving on the CAC but you are interested in the project, there are other ways to be informed and get involved.  You can follow developments on the project’s web site www.stlbikeplan.com as well as on the GRG website, www.greatrivers.info or follow us on Facebook, where we have a fan page called “Saint Louis Bike Plan.”