Dedeker to Join B-Ped Committee
By Jacob Mathias
Portage County Parks Commissioner Bo Dedeker has volunteered to serve on the Portage County Bike/Pedestrian Plan (B-Ped) Committee at last Thursday’s commission meeting.
The committee is charged with forming a series of interconnecting pathways throughout rural and urban Portage County.
County Executive Patty Dreier has lauded the program, which is funded largely by state grant money and is expected to attract tourists. Dreier has also said the pathway is intended to provide safe transportation options for non-vehicular travelers.
“I’ve made a commitment to try to ride my bike every day to work, and even in rain and snow,” said Dedeker.
“I think it’s a sustainable thing to do and we need to have better wellness in our community, and make sure our streets our safe.”
Stevens Point was found to have the highest percentage of bicycle commuters according to the Bicycle Federation Wisconsin’s 2011 Wisconsin Bicycling Benchmarking Report.
“I want to make sure it’s safe for my kids…to have a safe place to ride,”
“We have a long way to go to (having) ‘educated’ vehicles,” said Dedeker.
“There’s some places where you ride your bike that you don’t feel safe around the vehicles,” he added.
B-Ped is currently undergoing a planning phase, and will include long- term traffic studies, highway safety reports and input from residents. The planning phase is expected to last 18 months.