The Bottom-Up Revolution Bottom-Up Shorts: How To Build Bikeable Streets
Apr 22, 2025
Denyse Trepanier, the President of Bike Walk Alameda, shines a light on innovative strides towards a bike-friendly future in her city. She discusses the creation of low-stress bikeways and greenways aimed at enhancing cycling safety. Highlighting community efforts, Denyse emphasizes grassroots advocacy as key to transforming urban streets. The conversation touches on the challenges of redevelopment, the importance of engaged citizens, and how past experiences shaped a vision for a more bikeable Alameda.
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Geography Makes Bike Networks Work
- Alameda's geography, flatness, and lack of highways make it naturally bikeable and easier to plan active transport.
- City leaders pair that natural advantage with a deliberate low-stress bikeway network to maximize cycling use.
Plan A Connected Low-Stress Network
- Build a connected low-stress bikeway network rather than only piecemeal facilities around single destinations.
- Plan for a phased multi-year implementation so the backbone links most major spots over time.
Match Treatments To Street Types
- Treat streets differently by context: calm residentials and add protected cycle tracks or parking-protected lanes on larger roads.
- Use speed bumps, daylighting, road diets, and flex protection as appropriate to reduce stress for cyclists.