Northeast Communities Bike Walk Seeks Safe Streets

Sure, bike riding and walking are good for the body, but have you ever thought about how those activities can benefit an entire community?
   
That’s what the Northeast Communities Bike Walk team considers daily. “If you have communities that are easier to get around, if the roads aren’t daunting, if you feel like you can cross roads and the traffic speeds aren’t so great, then you’ll have more people out,” says Mike Brooks, one of the group’s leading volunteers. “They’ll walk in stores, get to know each other, and become more of a community.”
   
The Northeast Communities Bike Walk is a group composed of citizens from White Bear Lake and its surrounding towns; their  goal is to help ensure the entire area is bike-and pedestrian-friendly. It was formed last summer when April Pate contacted Brooks and asked for help creating a group to promote connected communities with walkable streets in the northeast metro area. The two then added Alan Wyman—an avid biker who runs the group’s website—to the team, and all have been working to make a difference in city projects since.
   
To help, check out their website or email nebikewalk@gmail.com.