CHARLESTON -- A public brainstorming workshop for the city's future bicycle route plans has been scheduled for Thursday.
According to a Facebook event notice, the public workshop is slated to run from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Charleston Carnegie Public Library, 712 Sixth St.
The city is kicking off a city-wide bicycle transportation plan with the workshop, the event details note.
According to the agenda for the night, there will be an introduction of the bike planning efforts so far. A description of the types of improvements that may be considered in the plan will be noted at the workshop as well.
Attendees will be able to mark up individual maps with their ideas for the city's bike plan. Those at the meeting will be split up into groups where they will prioritize and report suggestions.Â
According to the event details, people are urged to bring "ideas for bike routes throughout town."Â
The city has been getting assistance from an Illinois biking advocacy group in their efforts to make Charleston more bike-friendly.
A Lumpkin Family Foundation grant allowed Charleston to bring in Ride Illinois, a non-profit organization focused on making the state more conducive to bicycling, to draw up a comprehensive plan to make the city more of a haven for bicyclists.
The city has already taken steps to bolster trail systems near Lake Charleston and between Mattoon and Charleston, and Steve Pamperin, city planner, has said this is another step.
Jarad Jarmon
Reporter
Jarad Jarmon is a reporter for the JG-TC. He covers the city of Charleston, Eastern Illinois University, Mattoon schools and the Regional Office of Education.
