How Sheboygan is mobilizing to make the community safer for bicyclists and pedestrians

SHEBOYGAN COUNTY – A biking movement seems to be rolling across the county with a push toward expanding infrastructure for safe ridership.

This mobilization follows the end of funding from a roughly $25 million federal grant that supported Sheboygan County’s progress on non-motorized infrastructure in the early 2000s.

Here's how community members are moving to create safer streets for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Federal grant gave initial push for non-motorized infrastructure

There was a small community push for non-motorized infrastructure in the 1970s, but a thrust of progress started when Sheboygan County, one of four communities in the U.S., received about $25 million as part of the Non-motorized Transportation Pilot Program, dubbed NOMO in Sheboygan.

County Planning and Conservation Director Aaron Brault said the majority of funding was used for projects to connect people and roads with destinations. Some Sheboygan projects included sidewalk improvements along Taylor Drive, traffic-calming areas near schools and transformation of the Shoreland 400 Rail Trail.

Efforts to encourage biking included partnering with Paradigm Coffee and Music for Bike and Walk to Work Week and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center on a bike corral for the Midsummer Festival of the Arts.

Brault said the grant helped make the community "more livable and more marketable, which hopefully helps bring people here."

Sheboygan was recognized as a Bronze Level Bicycle Friendly Community from the League of American Bicyclists in 2018.

Brault added enthusiasm was high at the onset of NOMO but waned when "funding essentially ran dry” after the last project — a connecting route to Plymouth’s downtown — was designated in 2018. Construction on that project could begin in 2024.

Although there is no more federal funding, Brault thinks NOMO led to an “organic push” for people wanting a better biking community.

ReBIKE, an organization that refurbishes bikes for community use that opened in 2010, is one result of that push. The group gathers in Paradigm's basement on Wednesday evenings, tinkering with spokes, frames and inner tubes to restore bikes.

Bikes are usually collected from Sheboygan Police Department, local bike shop trade-ins or garage cleanings.

The group has refurbished more than 2,500 bikes for the community that would otherwise be impounded or thrown away, volunteer David Smith estimated. Smith was also on a NOMO citizens advisory committee.

Biking community raises safety concerns

While social bike rides have grown, community members spoke to concerns about safety, adequate infrastructure and driver literacy. Safety concerns include a lack of sufficient lighting and connected and protected bike lanes.

“I tend to find myself riding in the middle of the road a lot, which isn't exactly the safest thing,” Drew Olenick, Sheboygan Active Transportation member, said, because there isn't enough lighting in some areas he bikes.

“But at the same time, I know if I'm in the middle of the road, I'm less likely to run into something or smack into something that could potentially cause a little 5-pound bike to flip over," Olenick added.

Heather Cleveland, owner of Green Bicycle Co. and co-founder of Sheboygan Active Transportation, would like to see more local campaigns and driver’s education around sharing the road, non-motorized infrastructure and ways to encourage business bike-friendliness.

While there have been bike lane improvements — like those on Indiana and Pennsylvania avenues — Cleveland said "you're risking your life" biking on some dangerous streets.

There have been 31 bicycle and car-related incidents at city intersections and streets since May 2018, according to Sheboygan Police Department data. Among those are areas along Michigan Avenue, Union Avenue and North 14th Street.

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Brianna Schmidt, owner of Juniper Altheisure, felt crossing 14th Street on a bike when she worked at Vollrath was too dangerous. She didn’t try it again.

Cleveland, who bikes around Sheboygan, said she’s afraid of getting “doored,” or hit by a driver opening their door and not seeing her pass by.

"It’s like the streets have been taken over by cars,” Cleveland said. “Like it's the only option and it's dominated. I really feel like we got to pull that back, especially when it comes to the neighborhoods, near schools, near the grocery stores.”

A lack of safe neighborhoods may also prevent Sheboygan kids from learning to ride a bike, Cleveland said.

“We’ve heard it — kids feel afraid to learn to ride bicycles in our neighborhoods,” she said. “If we don't address our city designs and policies to address that, we are stopping a whole generation from learning to ride their bicycles."

Sheboygan Active Transportation hosted a group ride with Mayor Ryan Sorenson last September to call for future upgrades, like a protected bike lane, on Michigan Avenue. A “protected bike lane” would separate the bike lanes and vehicle lanes with posts or a median, rather than a painted lane.

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Schmidt, who now delivers local Juniper Athleisure orders by bike, said she’d like to see more protected bike lanes, which can create more predictability for bikers and drivers.

“You wouldn’t want to walk on a four-lane road with 30-40 mph traffic with only a painted line to protect you," she said in an email. "The same is true for a bike."

Cleveland also drew attention to a need for businesses to be more bike-friendly, and encouraging that through incentives or help with equipment, like bike racks. This could, in turn, encourage people to bike more and help businesses receive a special bike-friendly designation.

Sheboygan, regional commission seeking public input

Until recently, Smith felt the city didn’t seek community members' ideas for improvements.

"There’s a lot of satellite organizations interested, but the city — they plan things on their own,” he said.

Cleveland shared similar sentiments that a disconnect exists. For example, she said SAT's protected bike plan project last year was treated more as an event than an opportunity for community engagement.

"It's not just a matter of advocating for this bike lane. It's like the system is broken of where we can be heard," she said.

Two new bike and pedestrian initiatives from the Department of Public Works and Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission that are seeking public input could not only remedy this issue but improve city and county infrastructure. Sheboygan Active Transportation is encouraging people to get involved.

DPW is working with BLRPC on a “Complete Streets” policy, intended to make streets accessible for everyone, whether walking, biking or driving. The long-term goal is zero fatalities on the roadways. DPW recently held information sessions at the SCIO Farmers' Market and the Walk for Unity.

Part of the DPW's Complete Streets effort is a bike rack program where Sheboygan businesses and organizations can request a bike rack near their buildings.

Adopting a Complete Streets policy is also one of the League of American Bicyclists’ recommendations to the Bicycling Friendly Community silver level, which Public Works Director David Biebel said the city is trying to achieve.

The department also applied for a “Safe Streets for All” grant through the Federal Highway Administration that also aims to increase roadway safety.

Biebel said the grant has a large community outreach portion and takes a holistic approach, working with neighborhood groups and considering several environmental factors like landscaping and lighting.

He said the city should find out if it's a partial recipient of the $5 billion grant in early fall.

BLRPC is also seeking public input on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan for the Sheboygan area.

Ways to share your thoughts on infrastructure plans

For more about the “Complete Streets” initiative, sign up for a newsletter found online through this link: https://rb.gy/iyvrd.

To share public input for the Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission’s Sheboygan Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, take the survey online through this link: https://rb.gy/gdkyt.

Contact Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @alexx_garner. 

This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Sheboygan is working toward safer biking, walking infrastructure