Bikes Belong awards $33,000 in grants

Industry coalition Bikes Belong announced three more grants benefitting mountain bikers and worth US$33,000 to build community paths in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Oklahoma and to build singletrack in Colorado.

A $10,000 grant will support the Centre Region Bicycle Coalition's Musser Gap Greenway project in State College, Pennsylvania. The greenway will connect the Penn State campus and downtown State College to the great trails and natural beauty of the Rothrock State Forest, a popular venue for mountain biking. The partnership also expects to receive a grant from the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to help fund the greenway.

Groundwork Minneapolis will receive a $10,000 grant to help complete the Ryan Lake Trail in north Minneapolis, Minnesota. They'll use Bikes Belong's grant as a match for DNR and community funding to construct a highway underpass, completing the first phase of the multi-use path. This project will serve bike commuters and recreational riders in north Minneapolis and nearby inner-ring suburbs, who currently have no safe way to access the regional trail system to the south.

An $8,000 grant will support Team Evergreen Trailblazers' trail work in the Buffalo Creek Recreation Area of the Pike National Forest. A major destination for mountain bikers from the Denver and Colorado Springs metro areas, the trail system at Buffalo Creek is well loved—and well used. Trail expansion there will help mitigate user conflict by giving equestrians, mountain bikers, and hikers more room to ride and roam.

The City of Enid, Oklahoma, will use their $5,000 grant to begin to construct its comprehensive multi-use trail system. Enid, a rural community north of Oklahoma City, currently has no trails for active transportation and recreation-and 98% of its street infrastructure is without sidewalks. Their "Master Trail" system, as it has come to be called, will improve the quality of life in Enid by providing residents with a safe, inviting route for walking, running, and bicycling. Bikes Belong's grant will help match OK DOT grants and local funds for path construction.