Lexington, Louisville honored by USDOT for bicycle, pedestrian safety

Awarded at 2016 Safer People, Safer Streets Summit

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 16, 2016) — Lexington and Louisville were among 18 winners of Mayors’ Challenge Pedestrian and Bicycle Awards at the 2016 Safer People, Safer Streets Summit today in Washington, DC.

Lexington was the large city winner of the 2016 Mayors’ Challenge Award: Create Networks, while Louisville won among large cities for the 2016 Mayors’ Challenge Award: Educate & Enforce.

The mayors and cities winning awards have taken significant action to improve pedestrian and bicycle transportation safety in their communities. Award winners were selected by USDOT based on their efforts to improve walking and biking locally based on the seven Challenge Activities:

• Take a Complete Streets approach; 
• Identify and address barriers to make streets safe and convenient for all road users, including people of all ages and abilities and those using assistive mobility devices;
• Gather and track biking and walking data;
• Use designs that are appropriate to the context of the street and its uses;
• Take advantage of opportunities to create and complete pedestrian-bike networks through maintenance;
• Improve walking and biking safety laws and regulations;
• Educate and enforce proper road use behavior by all.

The 2016 USDOT Mayors’ Challenge Award Winners are:

2016 Secretary’s Awards for Overall Success 

New York; South Bend, Ind.; Washington, DC

2016 Mayors’ Challenge Award: Complete Streets

Large City Winner: Miami-Dade County, Florida

Small City Winner: South Bend, Ind.

2016 Mayors’ Challenge Award: Fix Barriers

Winner: Myrtle Beach, SC

2016 Mayors’ Challenge Award: Gather Data

Large City Winner: Los Angeles

Small City Winner: Bellevue, Wash.

2016 Mayors’ Challenge Award: Design Right

Large City Winner: New York

Small City Winner: Henderson, Nev.

2016 Mayors’ Challenge Award: Create Networks

Large City Winner: Lexington

Small City Winner: Norwalk, Conn.

2016 Mayors’ Challenge Award: Improve Laws

Large City Winner: Washington, DC

2016 Mayors’ Challenge Award: Educate & Enforce

Large City Winner: Louisville

Small City Winner: Oro Valley, Ariz.

2016 Mayors’ Challenge Ladders of Opportunity Award

Large City Winner: Austin, Texas

Small City Winner: Brownsville, Texas

2016 Mayors’ Challenge Engagement Award

Winner: Myrtle Beach, S.C.