Bike and Pedestrian Safety

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Bike / Pedestrian Safety Initiative

The Village of Whitefish Bay is a proud partner of the Wisconsin Bike Fed, an organization focused on making bicycling convenient, safe, accessible and fun. The Bike Fed is a resource for cultivating, motivating and uniting a strong community of residents, businesses and political leaders to promote safety for both bicyclists and pedestrians in Wisconsin. 

As a Bike Friendly Community member of the Wisconsin Bike Fed, the Village will benefit from a variety of assistance and services including:

• Support in filing application with the League of American Bicyclists “Bicycle Friendly Community” Program.
• Ability to work with planning experts to determine best-fit pedestrian and bike-friendly enhancements.  
• Access to road safety education materials for targeted campaigns. 
• Networking and collaboration with other participating Bike Fed participants.

Most notable from this list is the assistance Wisconsin Bike Fed will provide the Village in applying for the League of American Bicyclists “Bicycle Friendly Community” program. This is a rigorous application process that will result in the Village not only being able to identify existing bike and pedestrian safety strengths, but also the existing deficiencies. Going through the process of completing the application will be beneficial whether the Village is accepted into the “Bicycle Friendly Community” program, or not.

2023 Recommended Action Plan

Short Term Goals 1-4 Months:

• Announce Village as member of WI Bike Federation
• Implement Village Bike/Pedestrian webpage on Village website
• Begin social media messaging for Bike/Pedestrian safety with links to Bike/Pedestrian webpage
• Apply for DOT Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) Grant to conduct a Village wide Bike / Pedestrian Safety Study
• Continue ongoing Village staff / School District staff discussions in Bike/Pedestrian safety
• Prepare and obtain Village Board acceptance of a Village Bike/Pedestrian Safety Community Statement encouraging active safe transportation

Medium Term Goals 5-8 Months:

• Prepare duties and obtain acceptance by Village Board for Village Bike/ Pedestrian Safety Manager
• Sponsor all age Community Bike / Walk - Roadeo / Ride
  1. Utilize Klode and/or Cahill Park with Police Department squad escort
  2. Perhaps hold in conjunction with another event? 
  3. Consider soliciting community sponsors
  4. Raffle item: bike helmets, reflective outerwear, ride on tandem bike with Village President
• Propose Bike/Pedestrian Safety line item expenditure in 2024 Village Operations budget
• Consider Police Department enforcement enhancement of state traffic laws for all roadway users

Long Term Goals 9-12 Months:

• Investigate and establish Bike/Pedestrian Safety Advocacy / Advisory group
• Investigate existing Village Ordinances for recommended revisions or additions
• Schedule and conduct community wide Bike/ Pedestrian safety education seminar
• Investigate traffic calming and attentive driving initiatives such as hands-free phone driving ordinance and community vehicular speed limit reductions.
• Evaluate community wide bike parking needs and accommodations
• Prepare to apply for Bike Friendly Community in 2024
• Prepare 2024 Bike / Pedestrian Safety Initiative Action Plan for review by Public Works Committee