Bismarck-Mandan has been named a Bronze level “Bicycle Friendly Community” by the League of American Bicyclists.
"This helps us fulfill our vision to become a healthier community, a more complete street-driven community," said Bismarck Mayior Mike Seminary. "It helps us become more complete in where people can live, work and play, and thrive and be healthy."
The Bismarck-Mandan Metropolitan Planning Organization is the actual recipient of the award.
"Our region is in the top 25 percent of all small cities in the US for the share of commuters that bike to work," said planner Daniel Nairn. "There are four times as many bicycle commuters in our community now than there were in the year 2000, according to census data."
Nairn says a recent survey showed half of all residents have ridden a bicycle in the past year.
"It's a broad range of our population that are cyclists," Nairn said.
"Our main focus a lot of the time is to change the environment, so that the healthy choice is the easy choice," said Bismarck Parks and Recreation planner Wendy Anderson-Berg. "There is no better example of that than whe you build trails, paint bike lanes and create sidewalks, so that families can hop on a trail and visit a park. Or you can leave your vehicle at home, and go to a store, or bike to work."