FAYETTEVILLE, WV (LOOTPRESS) – The Town of Fayetteville is pleased to announce it has received national recognition with an Honorable Mention as a Bicycle Friendly Community. This recognition is awarded by the League of American Bicyclists through a rigorous grading process that examines the “Five Es” of bicycling: Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, Evaluation & Planning.
This is an exciting development in Fayetteville’s ongoing initiative to make the town more accessible and welcoming to non-motorists of all kinds. In December 2019, the Town of Fayetteville passed its first Complete Streets Resolution with guidance from Active Southern WV, a local non-profit geared towards increasing free physical activity opportunities in southern WV. Following the resolution, Fayetteville formed a Bicycle Pedestrian Action Committee (BPAC). The Fayetteville BPAC applied for recognition earlier this year in order to set a benchmark for improvement.
Only 3 other cities in the entire state have received higher recognition, making this an especially noteworthy achievement for Fayetteville. With feedback from the League of American Bicyclists, the Fayetteville BPAC will begin planning a year of initiatives to keep improving the town with a goal to receive even higher recognition in 2021.
“It is very important for us, with the Town of Fayetteville, to encourage our residents and visitors to become more active and promote healthier lifestyles,” says Matt Diederich, Town Superintendent. “I, in conjunction with our BPAC team, look forward to making the necessary changes to further promote biking in our community.”
Fayetteville Mayor, Sharon Cruikshank expressed, “I’m so excited to hear the news for our biking community! We have such a great Team in place to support development for our parks and trails. While we had a slight derailment in 2020, we are gearing up for 2021 to keep working on expanding our partnerships for trails and park projects!”
The Fayetteville BPAC is made up of representatives from town employees, community members, and Active SWV staff. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, committee meetings have been limited. However, the BPAC intends to resume meetings virtually and begin action planning in January 2021.
To learn more about the Fayetteville BPAC, contact Veronica Crosier, Active SWV staff and BPAC member, at veronica@activeswv.com.