The City of Riverside’s Bicycle Master Plan was adopted on May 22, 2007. The Master Plan provides a blue print for bicycle transportation and recreation in the City of Riverside and seeks to enhance and expand the existing bikeway network, connect gaps, address constrained areas and improve intersections, provide for local and regional connectivity, and encourage even more residents to bicycle.

Since the adoption of the Riverside Bicycle Master Plan, Riverside has added approximately 22.65 miles of class II bike lanes. The City has also completed a ½ mile section of the Santa Ana River Trail between Van Buren Boulevard and Bradford Street. The Santa Ana River Trail now runs the entire length of the City of Riverside without interruption. The City has also installed over 1500 hundred pedestrian countdown heads at over 200 signalized intersections City wide and has increased the standard on street bike lane width from 4ft to 6ft for all upcoming projects. Bike lanes and paths in the City are maintained regularly and are swept bi weekly with the exceptions of Victoria Avenue and the Santa Ana River Trail which are routinely swept twice a week.

In March of 2009 the City of Riverside submitted the Bicycle Friendly Community application to the League of American Bicyclists. The application required a detailed audit of the engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation efforts the City has made for cyclists. The status of the application is expected to be announced in mid-October. Once approved, the city will receive the designation of a Bicycle Friendly Community. This recognition will enhance the City’s image as a destination for bicyclists and will inspire the community to continue to improve conditions for bicycling.

The City of Riverside is dedicated to continuing its efforts to improve conditions for bicyclists. The City has recently been awarded $104,597.00 in Bicycle Transportation Account (BTA) Funds from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to design and construct 4 miles of class II bike lanes along Jefferson Avenue between Victoria Avenue and Arlington Avenue. In addition to the grant funded project the proposed FY 2008-09 five-year Capital Improvement Program includes projects that will add more than 36 miles of class II bike lanes bringing the total mileage to more than 115 miles City wide. The City is also looking forward to the creation of a Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) which will link various groups with a common interest in the City’s bicycle community and infrastructure. The BAC will help the City prioritize the projects and programs described in the Bicycle Master Plan and advise the City on how to further implement them.