Albemarle Regional Bicycle Plan
During the summer of 2012, the Albemarle Rural Planning Organization, with grant funding through the NCDOT began development of the Albemarle Regional Bicycle Plan.
The purpose of the Plan was to provide a framework for development of new facilities, programs and policies to support safe bicycling throughout the ten county region.
The Plan was developed through an open participatory process which included a steering committee, made up of local government planners, public events, stakeholder meetings and social media.
The Plan includes current cycling conditions, a recommended bicycle network, design guidelines for the development of facilities, a prioritized list of low-cost improvements, recommendations for integration of bicycle friendly policies into local codes and recommendations for maintenance and funding.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Plans
The ARPO also provides support to municipalities and counties developing Bicycle and Pedestrian Plans.
The Albemarle Regional Bicycle Website and Maps
The Albemarle Regional Bicycle website was the first collaboration of its kind between the NCDOT Bicycle and Pedestrian Division and a Rural Planning Organization in the State of North Carolina.
Our region is seeing an increased amount of bicycle tourists from not only across the state, but the eastern seaboard as well. Unfortunately, these tourists are unsure of the “safest” routes to bicycle through our region and our hope is to develop an app or website for bicyclists to access to view “safe” bicycle routes.
The project began by developing a regional hard copy map and four local community maps with input from a steering committee compiled of bicyclists and local government partners throughout the region.