The team of the Regional Office of U-LEAD in the Zakarpattia region in partnership with FORZA, Agency for Promotion of Sustainable Development of the Carpathian Region, organised an info session for the municipalities of the region to discuss the best practices for the development of cycling.
As noted by Mykola Siusko, Head of the U-LEAD Regional Office in the Zakarpattia region, the importance of bicycles is greatly increased in wartime, as they allow mobility in areas where other means of transport are unavailable. Another important advantage of a bicycle is its lack of fuel consumption.
“Cycling development is a complex process that requires financial and management resources from municipalities, but it is also important to share experience and borrow best practices in improving cycling infrastructure and cycling routes,” said Mykola Siusko.
Lesia Loiko, Head of FORZA, Agency for Promotion of Sustainable Development of the Carpathian Region, and Manager of the SUMCITYNET Project, worked with representatives of municipalities of the Zakarpattia region.
“Our organisation has been working in the area of sustainable mobility in municipalities for 13 years. Today, the bicycle has become the only means of transportation that can be used to move freely in many municipalities. This kind of transport is often used for personal needs, but there are also cases when it becomes indispensable for meeting the needs of critical infrastructure,” the expert said.
Lesia Loiko stressed that the development of cycling in municipalities requires motivated teams that have experience in creating cycling infrastructure and working out routes or at least include cycling activists.
The expert presented to the participants of the event the best practices in the development of bicycle lanes and bicycle infrastructure applicable to municipalities. According to her, this should primarily be developed by a team of activists in partnership with local self-government bodies. She advises starting by finding the necessary location or route that would distinguish the municipality from others and work to its advantage.
“When mapping out a bicycle route, its entire path, beginning and end must be clearly defined. For the most accurate mapping, reconnaissance trips should be made to create a convenient route that will meet the needs of cyclists. A prerequisite for a high-quality cycling route is a developed infrastructure and services for bicycle repair and recreation. This can be achieved very simply by working closely with the public and activists and agreeing a number of details, including the installation of signposts, with them. After that, you can think about the promotion of the route and its popularisation,” the expert advised.
Lesia Loiko also shared the first results of the development of the concept of a network of long-distance bicycle routes in the Zakarpattia region. The expert noted that the concept includes detailed transport and tourist cycling routes, including infrastructure planning and other details that will help improve the development of cycling in the Zakarpattia region.