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Trail Dedication

Summer 2009 marked the completion of major trail segments including several that made vital connections in the Billings trail network. An enthusiastic group of bikers, walkers and general onlookers gathered on Thursday, October 22, 2009 to dedicate and celebrate.

Starting in Lillis Park at the new bike/ped crossing on Broadwater Avenue, Chamber representatives passed out noisemakers and decorations and Mayor Ron Tussing, Chamber President John Brewer and various news reporters greeted the eager crowd. The Broadwater crossing was made possible through CTEP funding and local matching dollars. The Billings Chamber Trail Blazers were on hand to officiate the ribbon cutting ceremony.

Then everyone headed out to experience the newly connected trail stretching safely through some of Billings' heaviest traffic: down the previously completed Descro Park trail and the safe crossing at Central, through Stewart Park, crossing Monad at the new safe crossing, continuing on Lampman Park's new trail segment and across the new bike/ped crossing at King connecting to the new Bannister Drain trail segment south of King.

If the directions are mind boggling, think of it this way: bikers made it from Lillis Park to Pierce Flooring faster than any car.

Candi Beaudry - Planning and Community Service Department Director; Darlene Tussing - Alternate Modes Coordinator; and Robin Hanel - wife of Billings' new mayor

• Montana's Congressional Team

• Montana Department of Transportation - CTEP funding

• Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks - Recreational Trail Grants

• City Council members and County officials who helped guide the process

• City Staff who worked on these projects including:

  • KEN ARD Project Engineer on Monad Crossing & Lampman
  • CHRIS HERTZ Project Engineer on the Bannister Trail & King Crossing

• Sanderson Stewart (Engineering Consulting) Danielle Scharf

• CMG (Construction Firm) Kevin McGovern

These donors are also worthy of special note:

• Ryan Restaurant Corporation - trail segment along Famous Dave’s restaurant

• Pierce Flooring - gift of land for the corridor

• Gainan’s (Chuck Gainan and family) - gift of land and future landscaping and maintenance of their trail corridor

• Home Depot - gift of land

• Dave and Linnea Veeder and Scott & Audrey McRae - gift of land and construction of trail by 24th Street West (section that started this area)

• BikeNet - $25,000 for Lampman and $25,000 for Bannister trails**
  
  

** Funds raised at BikeNet's annual Ales for Trails at the Depot enabled BikeNet to contribute at this level. A special thank you to CTA Architects and The Spoke Shop for their consistent and considerable support of Ales and Billings trails.

2009 has been a year of incredible progress for the trail system.  And in the marketing department, the Chamber of Commerce has developed a new brand -- "Billings - Montana’s Trailhead.” The Chamber has become a strong advocate for the trail network and they are assisting in advancing the trail system in many ways. 

Featured 2009 Trail Projects:

• New at-grade crossings on Broadwater, Monad and King provide safe travel by trail (whether it be on bike or on foot) from the neighborhoods along Broadwater and Descro Park all the way to some of the restaurants and businesses along 24th Street West south of King. Celebrate with dinner at Old Chicago or Dos Machos without using your car!
• In the Heights, new sections of trail are being built with the Aronson and Airport Road projects (complete with underpasses to insure connectivity) along with plans for a new trail extension in Swords Park.
• The Rimrock Road trail section is finshed and ready to connect to the new Shiloh Road trail (in progress).
• New work has been done on a trail section on King Avenue East.

Check out these developments firsthand by clicking on the links in "Trail Sections" above.

2009 Trail Census

Volunteers counted trail users on Thursday, May 14 and Sunday May 17 in Billings' semi-annual Trail Census. The Census documents the amount and type of use the trails get and the numbers are used to compare useage over time and to write grants to build new trails. Weather can be a factor as is the time of day and day of the week. The census takes a variety of conditions into account to provide an accurate sampling. Both soft surface and hard surface trails were counted this year and 2009 showed another increase in walkers over 2007 numbers. Many thanks to the volunteers who counted and for the positive feedback received from trail users. This information can help make Billings trails even better! 2009 Trail Census Results.

Billings Awarded Bike-Friendly Status

The League of American Bicyclists has designated Billings as a Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) at the bronze level. The League awards this four-year, multi-level designation to communities that have made impressive, measurable efforts to integrate bicyclists. Out of 51 applications, Billings was one of 10 selected. All Bicycle Friendly Communities enjoy quality of life benefits to which many other communities aspire. The BFC program is providing a helpful road map for communities to make that transition.

The Billings designation was based on exemplary efforts toward "raising support and awareness for bicycling through a broad array of bicycle-oriented events which use the outdoor and recreational amenities unique to the region."

“It is important to recognize communities as they begin to build bicycle friendliness into their network. But a designation only goes to communities with established records in two or more of the five categories,” said Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists.

The five categories reviewers consider are:

• Education: Does the community have systems in place to train children and adult cyclists?
  
• Engineering: Are bicyclists included in the city’s transportation plan?
  
• Enforcement: Do police officers understand and enforce bicyclists’ rights and responsibilities?
  
• Encouragement: Does the community participate in Bike Month, offer bike rodeos, host community bike rides, or otherwise encourage cycling?
  
• Evaluation: Does the community have methods in place to ensure their bicyclist programs are making a difference?

The only other Montana Bicycle Friendly Community is Missoula, designated since 2003 and now at the silver level.

National 2008 Bicycle Friendly Community Press Release

More information about the Bicycle Friendly Community Program