Earlier in October, MassBike's Program Associate and I (Price) went to Renaissance High School in Springfield to teach their Bike Club about our Bikeability Assessments. We met with the faculty sponsor of the group and students to explain the concept of bikeability, and also took them out on an assessment test run. Moving forward, the plan is to undertake a student-driven assessment of streets near the school for submission to the City, focusing especially on Route 20A (a major street that runs by the school).

This is really exciting work, especially in Springfield - the fourth largest city in New England -  which could see major transportation and economic benefits from being more bike-friendly. Right now, their main bicycle facility is the Connecticut River Walk and Bikeway, but that is mostly used for recreation. This stands in stark contrast to the northern tier of the Pioneer Valley, where Easthampton, Northampton, Hadley and Amherst are all linked via off-road trails and the streets tend to have more bicycle facilities.

We are fortunate to have the opportunity through Mass in Motion for the MassBike staff to be able to provide direct support to Springfield (and Holyoke) on improving their bike infrastructure. MassBike also has a chapter in the Pioneer Valley, which works on a variety of projects and other local initiatives. If you have any questions about other things going on in the Pioneer Valley, or would like to get more involved, email [email protected].