As City Hall Plaza project nears end, Bike to Work Day planned
City official: ‘We want people to be aware and give space and attention to bikes.’
Bike to Work Day 2024 is planned for Friday, May 17, by the city of Springfield, and the event will mark not only the unofficial opening of bicycle season locally but the unofficial premier event on the newly renovated City Hall Plaza.
Steve Thompson, deputy community development director for Springfield and a member of the Bike Task Force, is excited the city will be showing off the new Plaza area after extensive renovation still being finished. He said the bike event has also attracted new sponsors for 2024.
“Refreshments are free for as long as supplies last at Bike to Work Day, which will run from 7 to 8:30 a.m.,” Thompson said. “Register now for Bike to Work Day and you could also claim a free T-shirt available to the first 100 registrants this year.”
Musical entertainment for the morning will be provided by D J Chill.
Sponsors of the 2024 event include NCF Savings Bank, Wallace & Turner Insurance, the Greater Springfield Partnership,
Borror Development, Park National Bank, Midland Properties, CJ’S Refuse Hauling and the Springfield Orthopedic Sports Medicine Institute.
The event is part of the weeklong Bike to Work week observance that runs from May 13-19.
Thompson said the community benefits from the amenity of outstanding bike trails, and drivers are increasingly called upon to share the road with bicyclists. The city has added bike lanes to multiple streets to encourage bike use in the city.
“We want people to be aware and give space and attention to bikes as they are becoming
a more common means of transportation locally,” Thompson said.
According to the League of American Bicyclists, 40% of all trips in the U.S. are less than two miles, making bicycling a feasible and fun way to get around.
Springfield is one of many communities in southwest Ohio connected through the nation’s largest paved bike trail network, which stretches from Cincinnati to Bellefontaine while traveling through Dayton, Xenia, Yellow Springs, Springfield and Urbana.
Next year, Springfield will host the 2025 Bike Summit, a regional event now in early planning stages, that will further highlight the trails available for bike travel and will involve many biking organizations active in biking across the state.
Thompson said Springfield, Clark County Springfield Transportation Coordinating Committee and local biking groups, including Bike Miami Valley and Changing Gears, will be involved in planning the 2025 Bike Summit event, along with Five Rivers Metro Parks of Dayton.
He anticipates the Summit event, which brings together cycling enthusiasts from across the state, will introduce Clark County area bikeways to many firsttime visitors.
The summit focuses on how to improve cycling and brings cyclists together to tour cycling infrastructure, offer workshops and provide valuable networking opportunities.