Residents of Urbana are encouraged by the city to use more environmentally friendly modes of transportation, such as riding a bike. But riding a bike can be a dangerous experience without safe paths. The Bike Master Plan, created by an Urbana City Council member, promises to make it safer for bicyclists to travel throughout the community.

When Brandon Bowersox, Ward 4, was elected to the council two years ago, his neighbors expressed interest in creating safe bike routes throughout Urbana, he said. In the past two years, a bike and pedestrian advisory committee was created, and is comprised of 10 community members from Urbana and chaired by Bowersox. Currently, the committee members are working with outside consultants on a biking plan for the city, he said.

“If implemented, it’s going to give bicyclists more safe ways to get to where they need to go,” said Susan Chavarria, transportation planner for the Champaign-Urbana Urbanized Area Transportation Study, a multi-jurisdictional committee of officials from Urbana, Champaign, the University, the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District.

Chavarria said she could not say exactly when it will be, due to some difficulty securing funding for biking and pedestrian projects.

The main issue is that Urbana has not created a safe place for bicyclists: If bicyclists ride on sidewalks they have to deal with pedestrians, and if they ride in the streets they battle cars and angry drivers, Bowersox said.

Chavarria said one of the goals of the Bike Master Plan is to educate motorists about bicyclists and their rights. Residents in both Urbana and Champaign want to see the sister cities come together on the plan because a connectivity between the cities will allow people to commute easier, she said.

“Hopefully we can be a model for both the University and Champaign and Champaign County as a whole,” Bowersox said.

The University is a big draw for employment, but it is difficult to find parking and can be expensive to have a car on campus, so a lot of people ride bikes, said Rick Bernotas, Urbana resident and a member of the bike and pedestrian advisory committee.

“This is a really great opportunity for people to have input into what they want to see,” Bernotas said.

Bernotas, who often rides his bike to work, said statistics show riding in the street is safer because if bikes act like automobiles, they’re more predictable to cars and pedestrians.

There is a University representative on both the bike and pedestrian commission, and on the steering commission for the plan, Bowersox said.

According to the University News Bureau, a bicycle master plan was recommended for the University within the Campus Area Transportation Study. The report was commissioned by the Champaign-Urbana Urbanized Area Transportation Study.

“The bike paths on campus were an innovative idea when put in, but it (has) outlived its usefulness,” said Gary Cziko, a professor at the University who uses his bike as his major mode of transportation.

The city is scheduled to hold the first public workshop on May 3 to get public input on the creation of the bike plan. The workshop will be from 6-8 p.m. in the Urbana Middle School Cafetorium, 1201 S. Vine St. People will be able to draw on maps at the meeting to indicate where they want safer roads, paths and bike routes.

“I think everybody’s really excited to get a plan and come up with a solution to the problem,” Bowersox said.