Fayetteville named first gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community in Arkansas

The League of American Bicyclists has honored the City of Fayetteville with a gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community designation for its commitment to improving cycling within the community.

Fayetteville is one of eight cities in Arkansas to be designated a Bicycle Friendly Community, and it is the first and only community in the state to earn a gold designation. 

“The City of Fayetteville is honored to be the highest-ranking Bicycle Friendly Community in Arkansas,” Mayor Lioneld Jordan said. “This is a reflection of our community’s commitment to accessibility, equity and more sustainable practices, as well as our staff’s vision and hard work to create an extensive network of trails for both transportation and recreation.”

The gold designation is valid for four years. Fayetteville first earned a bronze designation in 2010, then moved up to silver in 2016.

The League’s Bicycle Friendly America program sets the standard for how communities build and benchmark progress toward improving cycling within communities. The designation is awarded to communities based on assessments across five key categories: equity, engineering, education, encouragement and evaluation/planning.   

The gold-level award recognizes Fayetteville’s commitment to improving conditions for all people who bike through investments in bike education programs, regular bike events that promote and encourage people to choose biking, pro-bike policies and bike infrastructure.

This round of awards includes 32 new and renewing awardees, joining a total of 501 current Bicycle Friendly Communities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Celebrations of Fayetteville’s new gold-level award will be included in the events, programs and community rides held during National Bike Month in May 2023.

To learn more about cycling in Fayetteville, which was awarded the designation of being a Bike City in 2021 by the world governing body of cycling, Union Cycliste Internationale, go to: https://www.fayetteville-ar.gov/bike.