Encouraging a bicycle-friendly culture in Cape Girardeau

Editor's note: The following guest column originally appeared in The Arrow, the student-run newspaper at Southeast Missouri State University.

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The Cape Girardeau community has been discussing the merits of establishing bike lanes throughout the city to make it safer, more convenient and more practical to travel between destinations in our city by bicycle. I applaud these efforts and I encourage our city leaders to continue to move forward with this initiative.

Travel by bicycle offers many obvious advantages on campus and throughout the city of Cape Girardeau. Bicycle travel develops fitness for the rider, is more cost-effective than driving a car, does not contribute to the consumption of fossil fuels with the associated concerns about global warming, and alleviates parking concerns in congested areas such as the university campus.

News broadcasts regularly include alarming articles about an obesity problem in the United States and growing concerns about global warming. Spending more time riding a bicycle instead of driving a car would address both of these issues.

My short daily commute to campus is done by bicycle unless the weather is unusually bad or I need to drive to a meeting far from campus. I don't have a problem riding my bicycle while wearing a business suit, and I can always find a place to park my bike close to my office.

Traveling by bicycle is especially appropriate for students who may not be able to afford the expense associated with owning and operating a car. A bicycle allows students to easily access shopping and other businesses located off campus, but the lack of bicycle-friendly roads can make the journey from campus to the shopping districts in town somewhat perilous.

Bike lanes in Cape Girardeau would provide commuting students with an alternative to their automobiles and may alleviate some of the commuter parking concerns expressed by residents living close to campus. Students riding their bicycles to campus would not need to park on nearby residential streets.

Cape Girardeau made some wonderful infrastructure improvements over the years to support the use of bicycles. Perhaps the best example of this is the Osage Trail, which provides a safe place for families to ride bicycles free from the potential dangers of riding in traffic. On most weekends the Osage Trail is crowded with bike riders and runners, demonstrating that city residents appreciate this kind of infrastructure and will use it if it is built.

The addition of bike lanes would be another significant step toward encouraging a bicycle-friendly culture in Cape Girardeau. Cities such as Portland, Oregon, which have provided infrastructure support for bicycle use, have found that residents embrace bicycles as a pragmatic method of transportation.

Missouri has emerged as a national leader in an initiative called Complete Streets which involves designing streets with all users in mind, including bicyclists. More details on how to enroll Cape Girardeau in this initiative can be found at http://mobikefed.org/CompleteStreets.

I look forward to the day when my family and I can travel safely and quickly throughout Cape Girardeau by bicycle.

Dr. Ronald Rosati is the provost at Southeast Missouri State University.