To develop plans for a future bikeway system on campus, Ball State's master planning committee will host a workshop today that will allow students and local residents to provide their input on the new system.
The workshop will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the College of Architecture and Planning's ground floor multipurpose room.
Input gathered during the workshop will play a pivotal role in enhancing the new bikeway system plan, said George Smith, workshop coordinator and chairman of the master planning committee.
"(Attendees) will be able to voice their opinions about the various concepts, ideas, problems and potential of having the new bikeways on campus," Smith said.
Smith began planning for today's workshop three months ago and said he is looking forward to expanding the idea of a campus bikeway system, which has been on the University Senate's agenda for the past two years. He has been working for the past few weeks with a class of six graduate students in the Landscape Architecture Program to help develop several plans for the new bikeways, he said.
"I involved my class because I thought it would be a good learning experience for them," Smith said.
Cory Daly, a member of Smith's class, said he and the other students studied multiple bikeway systems from other universities before proposing several routes for Ball State's system. They have also begun to discuss how the new bikeways will be structured throughout campus, he said.
The students will present their planning and design ideas at today's workshop, during which attendees will also participate in two group discussions to provide suggestions for the bikeway system.
"Any public input is definitely encouraged from students," Daly said. "They are ultimately the ones who will benefit from (the new system)."
Smith said workshop attendees will also be able to complete bikeway user needs surveys, several dozen of which have been distributed already to students via e-mail throughout the past month and a half. Smith said he hopes to have the survey available on Ball State's Web site within the next week.
All of the input the planning committee receives at today's workshop will be taken to the University Senate in April, after which the senate will decide how it wants to carry out the bikeway system plan, Smith said.
"I'm hoping that over the next three to five years we will see some improvement in terms of bicycle use on campus," he said.
Daly said having a bikeway system on campus will help the Ball State community by significantly reducing traffic, providing all students with safe and quick access to all areas of campus, and encouraging more students to exercise daily by riding their bikes to class.
"If something like this comes into fruition, it will be beneficial," Daly said. "Overall, students seem receptive of the new bikeway system, and hopefully they will continue to embrace the idea."
Daly said he encourages as many students as possible to come out to today's workshop and is looking forward to getting feedback on the designs he and his fellow students have created.
Everyone should take advantage of the opportunity to be part of the planning process, he said.
"We want students to take an interest in the new bikeway system so we can see whether this can become a reality," Daly said. "It will be a good asset for everyone."
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