Bicycle summit in La Crosse on Saturday

Bike ped committee member says town isn’t proactive

While La Crosse is the site of a statewide bike summit this weekend, it’s also going through a debate over spending money on bicycle-friendly infrastructure.

Many don’t see the need and cite the small number of actual bicyclists. That, however, is not the trend, says Robbie Young, on the city’s bike and ped committee.

“The number of people that are riding bikes has doubled in the last decade or so,” Young said. “In other places, it’s growing even faster, but those places are making efforts to encourage people to (ride).

“Even without La Crosse putting in too much effort, people are getting on their bikes or walking more. And, we know there’s a large segment of the population that wants to do those things, but are not comfortable doing them yet.”

Young’s committee is examining so-called neighborhood greenways for King and 17th streets, currently. The plan calls for adding features like mini traffic circles to slow cars down and make the streets safer for biking.

If La Crosse builds places for bikes, there just might be more bikes on the streets, Young believes.

“(There are) great success stories about how, not only bike share and bike ridership went up, but that correlates with a downward trend in driving, as well,” Young said.

And with that, the dominoes start to fall.

“You reduce traffic congestion,” Young said. “When you do things like that, you get all the other bonuses: reducing pollution, energy waste on gas and cars. You allow families to maybe even own one car.”

Wisconsin Bike Summit events are being held at the Radisson Hotel in downtown La Crosse on Saturday.