Lee County Bicycle Safety advocates represented the area on Thursday in a regional summit with state and federal officials.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood and the U.S. Department of Transportation hosted an event in Tampa aimed at sharing innovative ideas on how to improve bicycle safety in communities throughout the Southeast.
Florida is the most dangerous state for bicyclists and pedestrians-- and Lee County is among the ten most deadly counties within the state.
Darla Letourneau of BikeWalkLee was one of the people at the summit representing Lee County. She said her group was there to share the area’s ongoing “complete streets” project.
“The summit was really a kick-off for a much bigger local education and awareness campaign,” she said. “Our goal is to turn around these numbers that have been growing—not declining—in the past few years, which is of great concern to us.”
Complete streets are designed, built, operated and maintained for safe and convenient travel of all types: including bicyclists and pedestrians.
Letourneau says the Lee County was initially planned for just vehicular travel, but with policy changes and awareness, bike culture could be in the area’s future.
