Ashland was named the fifth best U.S. town for biking — Can we do better?

Davis 1967-first bike lane. Photo via Getting Around Davis. (View original photo source.)

Gary Shaff, Chair of the Streets for Everyone action team, shares his insightful take on what Ashland offers bicyclists — and what would make our town safer and more accessible for all.

In a recent article, Outside Magazine ranked Ashland as the fifth best bicycle town in the country. Impressive!!

Ashlanders might be surprised that Davis, California was ranked number one. Yet Davis doesn’t have great mountain biking, and it lacks a nearby scenic bikeway–which we have here in Ashland. In a writeup, Ashland News noted, “we do have a great cycling scene here, and a little something for ‘everyone’.“ 

For many local cyclists, however, the Ashland bicycle scene isn’t great if you don’t head up the trails on your mountain bike, sport Lycra shorts, or enjoy riding 50 miles to the top of the Greensprings. So, sorry, but “everyone” doesn’t include most Ashland residents.

What Davis does have and, the reason why it was ranked number one, is a functional bicycle network: one where residents can get from anywhere to everywhere on a bicycle. They’ve had it for a long time. 

Ashland could be at the top of the list but it will take more than the watershed’s mountain bike trails and diverse out-of-town road cycling terrain. To get to #1, Ashland will need to do what Davis has done, which is to create an in-town bicycle network suitable for all ages and abilities. 

It’s not so difficult! All that is needed is for the city (and ODOT) to add protected bike lanes — which are physically separated from traffic by a barrier or curb — on major streets. The City Council is onboard and even directed that protected bike lanes be included on Ashland Street and North Mountain. But two streets do not make a city-wide network. As with auto travel, only with a complete network can people get from anywhere to everywhere in town.

A complete in-town bicycle network will do much more than attract athletic bicyclists to Ashland. It will also attract families. What could be better, as a parent, than knowing that your child can travel by bicycle to the nearby park, downtown for an ice cream, get to school, or the library, or across town to visit a friend or family? An “all ages and abilities” bicycle network can give kids, and parents, independence. 

A safe, convenient, and efficient bicycle network would also give all residents a choice as to how they travel to accomplish everyday tasks. Now, almost everyone drives a car even for short trips in-town. But roughly 60 percent of residents, if given a choice, would ride a bicycle, if it were safe! That choice would reduce traffic congestion and free up parking. Additionally, people walking or riding bikes will shop locally, and help to reinvigorate local businesses.

Additional benefits include a more affordable cost of living (according to the American Automobile Association, the cost to own, operate, insure, license, maintain and repair an auto is approximately $1,000 per month), reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and improved mental and physical health. 

With cooperation between the city of Ashland and ODOT, a functional bike network could happen by 2030. The streets and highways are the public’s transportation system, it can and should be changed to make Ashland’s future a little brighter. We can be number one.