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STEUBENVILLE -- Local leaders said they hope an upcoming community bike ride can be a catalyst for the revitalization of downtown Steubenville and active transportation for residents.
Jacob Hyman, local leader of Strong Towns Steubenville Local Conversation, and Andrew Henry, the Jefferson County health commissioner, have been involved in planning for Cycle the City, a free community bike ride loosely following the Steubenville Heritage Trail and scheduled for Saturday at 9 a.m.
The ride will begin at the fountain by Historic Fort Steuben and travel north on Fourth Street, turn onto Franklin Avenue, go south on Fifth Street and loop onto Lincoln Avenue. Next, the ride will make its way through the paved portion of Beatty Park, and then return back to Fourth Street. The ride will conclude around 10 a.m. at the green space on Fourth Street across from Leonardo's Coffeehouse, where there will be refreshments and social time.
Henry said the riders will be divided into two group paces, experienced and recreational. There will be a much smaller bike route for kids, which will remain around a singular block on Fourth Street.
"Our goal here is to grow a bicycle community in Steubenville in the hopes that we will have a more bicycle-friendly town," said Henry. "If you look at any community that has made a rebound economically, cycling is a key part of that fabric."
Hyman said Cycle the City was conceived following a meeting at the Jefferson County Tower regarding the Heritage Trail, which stretches about 4 miles from Beatty Park, through downtown and into Belleview Park.
"This is a trail network that we've had in town for some time, but there hasn't been a lot of activity on it," Hyman said.
The ride would put to use part of the trail, for which little supporting infrastructure currently exists, he added.
The bike ride will raise awareness of the Heritage Trail, Hyman said, and hopefully increase demand for infrastructure to support biking along it. Increased usage may extend to the proposed, 3,700-mile Great American Rail-Trail, which would enter Steubenville by crossing the Market Steet Bridge and connect with the Heritage Trail.
Henry said Steubenville is currently a block to the Great American Rail-Trail because of its lack of bicycle infrastructure, and he added, "We need to force community leaders to build access points to the Heritage Trail to make our downtown more bicycle friendly because, if we don't put bicycles on the road, they'll never address the issue."
Hyman said his goal for Steubenville since he began working with the Harmonium Project, and now Strong Towns, has been to promote city pride. He added, "Seeing the city from the wheels of a bike gives a whole new perspective of it and helps you care about it a lot more."
"I have a bike myself, and I'm very excited about these biking routes already established and hopefully to be established (in Steubenville)," Hyman said.
The ride will promote active transportation among citizens, Henry said.
"From the health department's standpoint, the Cycle the City is an important step forward in regard to health in the community," Henry said. "It's vitally important that, as a community grows, we promote community health and wellness at the same time."
Hyman said, "There's a lot of people excited about (the ride), but not everyone who's excited about it has a bike. ... If this is successful, then we can continue to have a monthly bike ride that benefits health and benefits that growing bicycle culture in Steubenville."
The weather is expected to be warm on the day of the ride, but riders will escape the heat by starting in the morning, Henry said. He added traffic will be light due to the day and time, which will create safe conditions for the cyclists who will be cruising on the street.
Henry said riders will be expected to respect traffic laws. Hyman said there will be no running of stop lights, and riders will keep have to maintain safe distances according to city code.
In addition to the health department and Strong Towns, Hyman said, Cycle the City has been supported by the Harmonium Project and the Friends of Beatty Park. The former has helped with advertising, and the latter will have an informational table with water bottles in the park section of the ride.
Also, individuals with the Steubenville North Choice Neighborhood Plan team distributed fliers promoting the event in the North End neighborhood because the ride will pass along the neighborhood's Franklin Avenue, Hyman said.
That neighborhood is the target of a $500,000 Choice Neighborhood Planning Grant awarded in December, the plan for which, Steubenville Choice's website says, "will seek to replace 100 percent of those housing units within the neighborhood, or in other areas of opportunity as part of new mixed-income developments." The plan was in the process of collecting resident and community surveys as of the beginning of July.
Strong Towns, Hyman said, has been interested in Cycle the City's potential for more widespread active transportation and "providing other ways to get around the city besides just a car."
The name Strong Towns may be new to some, considering Steubenville's autonomous group -- called a local conversation -- was formed quite recently. Strong Towns Steubenville announced Thursday on its Facebook page that it gained official recognition from the national nonprofit organization Strong Towns.
"(Strong Towns) has been around for over 15 years," Hyman said. "(It) has a focus on community revitalization through grassroots efforts, specifically ... through city financing, (which is) how cities actually pay for their development and growth."
Each local organization works independently to implement Strong Towns principles in their own communities, said Hyman, who has lived in Steubenville for just over two years. He was able to attend a national gathering from Strong Towns in May and is now spearheading the local conversation.
The local conversation, which Hyman said is run entirely by volunteers, created a Facebook page in early July. Since then, the page has been promoting Strong Towns content, such as podcasts and blog posts, alongside promotions for local events like Cycle the City.
"We don't want to be all talk and no game," Hyman said. "We want to do things in town that actually help articulate Strong Towns' principles through something like the bike ride."
Coming soon, the local conversation will offer community conversations, which are guided talks on Strong Towns' principles, followed by breakout discussions. The first community conversation, which Hyman said will gather local leaders and city officials, is planned for Aug. 9.