As its name suggests, the 2025 update of the MIC’s Duluth-Superior Area Bicycle Transportation Plan defines bicycling as a mode of transportation – a way for people to travel – and identifies bicycle routes as a fundamental element of our regional transportation system.
It’s also an action plan that describes why, how, and where a safe, convenient and interconnected network of bicycling facilities can be implemented throughout Duluth and Superior.
As bicycling is an important and growing transportation option in our area, this plan is intended to be used by roadway jurisdictions and community members alike, as a tool to guide and encourage the development of future transportation projects that will support people of all ages and abilities to ride bikes to their destinations.
This plan is also a complement to the MIC’s long-range plan, Sustainable Choices 2050, and its vision for our region’s transportation system. The Duluth-Superior Area Bicycle Transportation Plan is about more than bike routes. If and when implemented, it will help to advance many of the goals – safety, mobility, equity, livable communities, health of people and the environment – that are important to the people who live and work here.
Background Information – 2025 Update
The MIC has been working to develop a bicycle transportation network throughout the greater Duluth-Superior area since it released its bike route plan in 1994. Since then, a series of bicycling improvements have been undertaken, including:
● Installation of on-street wayfinding bike route signage
● Construction of a backbone linear multi-use path running the length of Duluth (including the extension of the Lakewalk to Brighton Beach to the East and the planning and construction of the Cross City Trail to the West)
● Bicycle parking improvements (including providing bicycle racks at all schools)
● Encouragement events (annual Bike to Work and Bike to School Days)
● Establishment of a formal bicycle count program to assist with the evaluation of the bikeway network
● A series of public engagement sessions to identify bike lane locations in the City of Duluth
It is a large undertaking to move from simple wayfinding signage to a designated system that includes space on the street for bicycles, but efforts to improve the on-street network have kicked into gear.
This Plan will reflect the work that has been accomplished to date and will provide guidance for the implementation of a safe, interconnected bikeway system that encourages people of all ages and abilities to bicycle to their destinations.
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