Gearing Up in Winchester, Virginia: Lessons from a Bicycle Friendly Community Workshop

Winchester is a quaint city with a population of just over 28,000 residents, nestled in the Appalachian Mountains of northern Virginia. Surrounded by rolling hills and farmland, and just a stone’s throw from larger cities like D.C. and Baltimore, Winchester is well-situated as a peaceful respite from the hustle and bustle of big-city life. 

Though the city has yet to apply for recognition as a Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC), Winchester has several opportunities for bike-and-walk-loving locals: the downtown area has a welcoming car-free shopping zone adjacent to Shenandoah University, the Green Circle Trail encircles the city as a biking and walking loop, and the community has a vibrant bicycle and pedestrian committee known as Bike Walk Winchester. 

Winchester sits in the larger Frederick County, which is currently working on improving its biking and regional active transportation options for its residents and the community as a whole. The city’s proximity to Bicycle Friendly Communities in Virginia, like Bronze-level BFC Harrisonburg and Gold-level BFC Arlington, is drumming up interest in improving Winchester’s bikeability, both to attract new residents and improve the quality of life for the locals. Virginia itself sits at #12 in the League’s latest Bicycle Friendly States ranking — an encouraging statistic for communities like Winchester, which are seeking to bolster their reputation for outdoor recreation and active transportation.

As this work is unfolding, the community’s Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and local bike advocates invited the League’s Bicycle Friendly America staff to come to Winchester to host a Bicycle Friendly Community Workshop in September. The day-and-a-half-long workshop brought together many of the community’s decision-makers and local leaders who are working on biking and walking in the city and county, from local and regional planners and engineers to university staff, volunteer bike advocates, and school officials. 

The workshop featured a deep dive into the community’s profile, exploring who’s biking and why, what improvements could and should be made, and the essential elements of the League’s 5 E criteria that articulate how to improve a community’s bicycle-friendliness holistically. 

Combining both presentation and discussion, the group worked throughout the first day to identify what is going well and what improvements should be made in the near (and distant) future to build their vision for the community. What rose to the top of the list included how to better engage both youth and adults in cycling education, updating the existing bike plan, and incorporating encouragement programming — like organizing more types of group rides and starting a bike bus — that reflect the community as a whole. 

Of the Winchester/Frederick residents who responded to a public survey about local bicycling conditions, most report riding their bikes at least once a week for recreation, leisure, exercise, and for transportation. The number one response to “what you would like to see the local government do for bicyclists in this community” was “more bike lanes and protected bike lanes,” closely followed by “implement a Bicycle Master Plan or similar transportation plan.” 

The second half-day was spent detailing an accelerated action plan for the various ideas, programs, and campaigns that the community would like to set into motion for the next twelve months. These included starting a bike bus to school, integrating biking at Shenandoah University in more intentional ways, and updating the bike plan at the county and local levels. 

Attendees shared that the most valuable aspects of the workshop were the “networking, meeting people in the community, and learning what it takes to be a Bicycle Friendly Community.”  One attendee said, “Anna presented options that I had not previously considered. I really liked the ‘Action Plan’ steps, something I can take beyond bicycling.”

The biggest takeaway from the workshop (and really, from any efforts to create a welcoming place for people to bike) is that people are at the heart of it all. Offering the means and knowledge for communities to build dignified ways to get around by bike, and integrating it with existing transportation options, is a must. Having a supportive, active, and enthusiastic local bike advocacy community is incredibly helpful to get people to show up to community meetings and provide feedback about plans and community engagement. Not to mention, a supportive local and regional government is an essential ingredient for the recipe for success. Winchester and the wider Frederick County have all these elements, and a bright future is ahead of them — with the stage set to start the work that needs to happen now.

If you or your community would like to get the expert hands-on and in-person training that Winchester received, you can request the League come to your community to host a Bicycle Friendly Community Workshop! Email [email protected] to learn more about pricing, scheduling, and other logistical details. We would love to work with you to make your community better for biking.