WILLMAR — The city of Willmar has again been designated as a bronze level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists.
Willmar last received the designation, which is given every four years, in 2016. The city is one of 482 communities across the nation to receive this recognition.
Carris Health and the city of Willmar Parks and Recreations Department were also awarded bronze levels as Bicycle Friendly Businesses. Willmar was the only city in Minnesota that had two businesses achieve a new designation.
The League of American Bicyclists reviews the applications for level designation and looks at what each community or business has done to create a safe and positive biking culture. The league specifically looks at engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation and planning.
A long list of community organizations and groups contributed to Willmar's successful application, ranging from city departments and schools to businesses and health care providers.
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The news release announcing Willmar's successful application for a designation pointed out the Mayor's Bike Ride, BikeWillmar bike share program, hosting biking events and groups and bike-centric activities at community events as reasons why Willmar received its designation.
The award "recognizes Willmar’s commitment to improving conditions for all people who bike, through investments in bike education programs, bike events that promote and encourage people to choose biking, pro-bike policies and bike infrastructure," the release said.
More information on the Bicycle Friendly Community program can be found at bikeleague.org/community .
