City Council on Wednesday is expected to approve the Dallas Bike Plan. It’s a master plan intended to guide city officials in making transportation decisions.

The overall goal of the plan is to create a comprehensive bike system, increase commuter and utilitarian bike trips across the city, raise awareness and education about bicycle safety and create “complete streets”, which make room for cars, bikes, pedestrians and public transportation.

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Dallas currently has almost 400 miles of bike routes, mostly in the city’s center, but there are virtually no bike lanes in the city. The bike plan aims to remedy that. It calls for increasing the number of shared-lane markings, bike lanes and paved shoulders to make the city more bike friendly.

Speaking of bike friendly, the plan calls for tapping into existing community organizations, such as the “bike friendly” groups to foster awareness and education.

The city has a very good trail system that is gaining new connections all the time, and the plan calls for continuing that work. But those trails aren’t always practical for bicycle commuters. Try getting to the grocery store on the Coombs Creek Trail.

The plan states: “This system has been strategically designed to connect neighborhoods to transit, and to access destinations such as schools, event centers, museums and parks”

Some 1,400 Dallas residents responded to the city’s survey for the bike plan, and these are the top things they said they wanted:

• Education for all travelers though on-road signage and other techniques to instruct users how to share the road

• More bike lanes on major streets and shared lane markings on wide outside or curb lanes

• Stronger bike connections to transit

• Additional bike parking