MONROE - Making downtown Monroe more bicycle friendly probably will become a long-term item on the agenda of the Monroe Main Street Board of Directors.
Board member Ryan Wilson said he asked the board to put the issue on "as an item to pursue."
The Monroe Main Street Design Committee has been focusing some of its attention on acquiring bike racks and wayfinding signs for downtown bicyclists. But at a meeting March 3, some members recognized more was needed.
"Things can be done to set a community apart as friendly or unfriendly," Wilson said at that meeting. "Right now, the Square is not biker friendly."
To discover what those "things" are, members decided to research other communities to find what attributes make them "bike friendly."
Sharon Kaminecki of Brodhead said she knows what is missing when she sends bicyclists to Monroe on "Bike Green County" tourism packages. Working in conjunction with Green County Tourism, she organizes routes for bicyclists to follow.
What bicyclists need are bathrooms, snacks and bike racks, she said. And after they are done riding for the day, they want dinner.
"And they will spend a lot of money on dinner, and beer and whatever, because they have worked hard," she said.
If they want to come to Monroe, Kaminecki said she usually gets bikers directed downtown where they find good restaurants, and then arranges for their overnight stay at the Victorian Garden Bed and Breakfast.
"The problem with Monroe is that the rest of the lodging are motor hotels," she said. "There is no overnight lodging downtown."
Motor hotels, as she calls them, are on busy highways, and riders do not want to get on their bikes and cross busy roads to get to and from their dining location.
Kaminecki runs the Earth Rider Bicycle Boutique and Hotel in Brodhead, and said many of her customers don't even arrive in a car.
With a "car-free get-away" bicyclists from as far as Chicago arrive on a bus or train, and bike into Brodhead from Janesville, she said.
"Touring by bike, you see more of the area, especially the countryside and the people," Kaminecki said. And as gas prices rise, and people become more "green" conscious, she believes "car-free get-aways" will be come more popular.
Board member Ryan Wilson said he asked the board to put the issue on "as an item to pursue."
The Monroe Main Street Design Committee has been focusing some of its attention on acquiring bike racks and wayfinding signs for downtown bicyclists. But at a meeting March 3, some members recognized more was needed.
"Things can be done to set a community apart as friendly or unfriendly," Wilson said at that meeting. "Right now, the Square is not biker friendly."
To discover what those "things" are, members decided to research other communities to find what attributes make them "bike friendly."
Sharon Kaminecki of Brodhead said she knows what is missing when she sends bicyclists to Monroe on "Bike Green County" tourism packages. Working in conjunction with Green County Tourism, she organizes routes for bicyclists to follow.
What bicyclists need are bathrooms, snacks and bike racks, she said. And after they are done riding for the day, they want dinner.
"And they will spend a lot of money on dinner, and beer and whatever, because they have worked hard," she said.
If they want to come to Monroe, Kaminecki said she usually gets bikers directed downtown where they find good restaurants, and then arranges for their overnight stay at the Victorian Garden Bed and Breakfast.
"The problem with Monroe is that the rest of the lodging are motor hotels," she said. "There is no overnight lodging downtown."
Motor hotels, as she calls them, are on busy highways, and riders do not want to get on their bikes and cross busy roads to get to and from their dining location.
Kaminecki runs the Earth Rider Bicycle Boutique and Hotel in Brodhead, and said many of her customers don't even arrive in a car.
With a "car-free get-away" bicyclists from as far as Chicago arrive on a bus or train, and bike into Brodhead from Janesville, she said.
"Touring by bike, you see more of the area, especially the countryside and the people," Kaminecki said. And as gas prices rise, and people become more "green" conscious, she believes "car-free get-aways" will be come more popular.