By james art 
Bike Santa Fe, the recipient of the AARP Community Community Community Grant, uses the funding he has received to get a job and to immerse himself a little deeper, helping him to train city officials better for more causal streets.
Bike Santa Fe works to identify the best routes and intersections for improvements that would help cyclists reach from one side of the city to the other or easily have access to local paths, knowing that resources for such improvements are limited and therefore must be prioritized.
Photo from Santa Fa Bicycle
“We worked with our members and other cycling organizations to identify these routes and intersections when this possibility of grant introduced itself, and we thought that making bicycle audits would be a great way to collect more information to share with the city Let’s make Santa Fe easier to get around with a motorcycle, “said Jennifer Weber, president of Bike Santa Fe.
The members of the group’s volunteer council wrote the grant application, and after receiving the grant, they not only used the resources provided by AARP, but also joined the resources and technical support provided by the league of US cyclists.
To identify bicycle audit areas, Bike Santa Fe works from its existing list and met with other local organizations such as the elderly of motorcycles and chains, among others, to finalize the four routes and two intersections that will be audited. The final list of seats included Richards Avenue from Santa Fe Community College as well as Airport Road.
“We were very interested in making the airport road because there is a lot of growth in this part of Santa Fe and so many cyclists and pedestrians cross or walk. It was also one of the projects included in the bond measure, which were just adopted in November. Our audit will help to form the work that will take place on the airport road, “Weber said.
After the audits were completed, the findings were presented to the Advisory Committee for Bicycle and Pedestrobles in the city, the manager of the temporary city, the director of public work and the mayor. Municipal councilors were also informed of the audits and invited to learn about findings.
Weber said the information was well received and some of the objects that the audits, brought to light, are already working.
“One of the things that our members turned to us before the audits and what we watched is when you have a bicycle lane and the street meteors pass, many times they simply grind the debris from the car’s alleys in bicycles, making them impassable from a bike. We raised this problem and identified some key places and have already told us from the city that it will share this information with the people who do the job, so we need to see some more clear bicycle canvases, “she said.
“During our Airport Road audit, we noticed that the pedestrian lights to cross South Meadows were not long enough to do it on the other side of the street, it was only seven seconds long. With schools on both sides of the airport road in the southern meadows, it is important that children can safely cross the streets, “Weber said.
A similar situation was found on the path of Cerrillos. With the lights to become green so that motorists can drive smoothly along the road, the signal to cross the road when a pedestrian did not attend to push the walk signal was only seven seconds; Not long enough for a motor to cross the six lanes.
Although these early observations have achieved results, the work will not stop there. Bicycle audits contain useful information, but it is only the beginning of the creation of more festive streets.
“We have made our presentations as key to decisions and now we will continue to follow and advocate for these improvements identified in the audits,” “
Weber said.
Overall, Weber has found the AARP Community Challenge grant process quite easy and will encourage any organization that is eligible and has a quick replacement project to apply for the funds.
“You have the opportunity to talk to other Benesty to get ideas and talk about your projects and reports. It’s a very supportive process, “she said. Bike Santa Fe not only took advantage of the resources provided by AARP, but also managed to use advice from the League of American cyclists.
The AARP Community for 2025 grant’s application deadline is Wednesday, March 5, at 3:00 pm (17:00, etc.) to learn more or apply for a visit https://www.aarp.org/livable-communities/community-challenge/info-2025/2025-challenge.html
Photos are the courtesy of Santa Fe bike