FARGO — Bike enthusiasts braved the snow to learn about and discuss the bike way infrastructure in the metro.
Questions from the packed audience ranged from road safety improvements to how the cities incentivize bike travel, while Metropolitan Council of Governments’ Dan Farnsworth kicked off the evening with an overview of the current bike system and a look at what’s to come.
Anna Paige / The Forum
The Tuesday, Nov. 19, event was hosted by the newly formed Strong Towns Fargo, which is the local branch of a national organization that pushes for policies that support sustainable city development and safety through walkable and bikeable street design.
Shared use paths scrawl across the entire metro area, Farnsworth said, with more than 200 miles running alongside roadways and the Red River.
There are an additional 11 miles of shared lane markings — which indicate that cars are meant to share the roadway with bikes — as well as 14 miles of conventional bike lanes butted up next to vehicle lanes and four miles of buffered bike lanes that have two white lines between the bike lane and the road.
There is still lots of work to be done, however.
“We all probably know that there could be improvement in our area,” Farnsworth said. “We can be doing better as a community.”
Municipalities in the metro need to repaint the bike lanes where the markings have faded away, clean up debris and snow that blocks the bicycle paths and install signage along the corridor to make way finding easier, he said.
In addition, these 200+ miles of bike lanes need to be more connected, he said, to allow bicyclists to travel throughout the city.
When asked by an attendee how the Metropolitan Council of Governments is incentivizing commuters and recreation seekers to choose biking in a metro this spread out, Farnsworth said that, while they aren’t working to promote biking, they do include it as a consideration when planning projects.
Part of bike incentives need to be incorporated into the city’s planning through their land use guidelines, he said, noting that large parking lots push the distance between destinations farther and farther apart and discourage any travel except by vehicle.
“People just aren’t going to walk if everything is very spread out,” Farnsworth said.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
Former Fargo city commissioner Arlette Preston, now a leading voice in Strong Towns Fargo, asked if the Metropolitan Council of Governments gave any consideration to desired destinations when planning out new bike paths. Having bike paths specifically placed to visit shopping centers and employment hubs would serve a large number of people and assist in their commute, she said.
The Metropolitan Council of Governments did bring in a consultant to examine lower income neighborhoods — where bike transportation is more common — to determine where the highest needs are for bike paths throughout the metro, Farnsworth said.
That data influences their project choices, he said.
Next year, the city of Fargo is going to extend the bike lane along NP Avenue from Roberts Street to Broadway, Farnsworth said, and the Red River Trail in Fargo will be extended from 35th Avenue South to 40th Avenue South and from 15th Avenue North to Woodcrest Drive.
Bicycle counters throughout the city show an increase in the number of bike riders citywide, he said, with some areas seeing hundreds of bikes per day in the warmest months.
Those interested in connecting with Strong Towns Fargo can find them on
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Reporter working the night shift đź‘». I cover Fargo city government, Cass County government and underserved populations in the area.