The city of Muncie and Ball State are working on earning a "Bicycle Friendly Community" distinction by adding bike lanes and updating the city's bicycle code for the first time since 1968.
Kyle Johnson serves on the Muncie Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory committee and said the updated code should be adopted this month. Johnson is also the GIS Coordinator for Delaware County.
The committee, which was formed at the end of summer 2014, was tasked with both updating the code and achieving the distinction of being a “Bicycle Friendly Community” from the American League of Bicyclists. Johnson said the city applied for designation in February, and thinks it has a good chance at receiving the label.
“You just prove that you as a community are working towards making your community a more bicycle friendly community,” Johnson said. “I’m definitely an avid cyclist, I have been for a long time… [I’ve] always kind of been involved with bringing bicycles to Muncie.”
Jim Lowe, Ball State director of engineering, construction and operations, said the bike paths are part of the Campus Master Plan, which will be completed in a “couple of months.”
He’s hoping to put the lanes on Bethel and Tillotson avenues, from the football practice field, past the Alumni Center to Northside Middle School. From there, the path will run by Anthony Apartments and through campus.
Lowe said he doesn’t know exactly where on campus the lanes will run or when construction will begin until the plan is finalized.
The bike lane running through Ball State's campus will eventually connect with the bike lanes Muncie is planning to construct around campus. It will connect Bethel Ave. to Riverside Ave. and White River Boulevard. Other lanes will connect McGalliard Road and Oakwood Ave. to Bethel Ave., and Bethel to Riverside Ave. by way of New York Ave.
Lowe said the Ball State bike lanes will provide more than just pedestrian and bicyclist safety; they will give students a new mode of transportation on campus other than just walking or driving.
“It’s also a way to allow folks who decide to ride their bikes a chance to take in the campus, and driving through campus in a car doesn’t do it justice. If you’re on a bike and you’re taking that slow speed on a bike, you get a chance to look at our campus as opposed to being in a car,” Lowe said. “It’s a way to challenge people to get out and exercise.”
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