US Bicycle Routes approved in Maine, New Hampshire, Michigan and Alaska

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The first route updates to the US Bicycle Route System since 1982 have been approved by the transportation group that oversees state highways.

Shown in red at left, the new bicycle travel routes approved are:

USBR 1 in Maine and New Hampshire;
USBR 20 in Michigan
USBR 8, 87, 95 and 97 in Alaska.

Two existing routes — USBR 1 through Virginia and North Carolina, and USBR 76 through Virginia, Kentucky, and Illinois, are shown in blue.

The Adventure Cycling Association announced the new routes on Wednesday.

Coordination

The remaining corridors on the map show the work that has yet to be done on the 50,000-mile US Bicycle Route System that will one-day connect cities and national landmarks across the U.S. Right now, volunteers and highway department staffs in 30 states are working to bring those corridors to life.

Adventure Cycling is coordinating work on the project for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), which formed a task force for the interstate bicycle route system in 2008.

If you'd like to support the creation of the US Bicycle Route System, you can help by donating to the Build It. Bike It. Be a Part of It. fund-raising campaign underway this month. Adventure Cycling is trying to raise $30,000 to fund work on the project.

Signs are next

The route-numbering approval received from the AASHTO means signs designating the route can be posted along the roads.

Volunteers and highway staffs drew up proposed routes, then got the approval of local communities to be a part of the system. In some states, such as Maine, the bicycle route supporters held public meetings.

Michigan

According to a press release on the approvals (AASHTO approves new US Bicycle Routes across America), Michigan volunteers Scott Anderson and Kerry Irons were among the first to start a grassroots effort to win route designation. Together, with state officials, they created a model for creating the bicycle routes.

A description of the Michigan route:

Michigan’s USBR 20 begins and ends with ferry rides: over 40 miles of Lake Michigan open water from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, to the port of Ludington, Michigan, and three-quarters of a mile across the St. Clair River to Ontario, Canada, from Marine City, Michigan. In between are glacial hills and flat prehistoric lake bottoms of central Michigan. USBR 20 mostly follows quiet, rural, country roads and includes over 45 miles of separated pathways, including the 30-mile Pere Marquette Rail-Trail. The western section of the route features the Manistee National and Pere Marquette State Forests, insuring that cyclists will get a strong dose of “pine tree perfume” as they ride. The route is the essence of small-town, rural communities anxious to host traveling cyclists. Plus, riders get to visit Frankenmuth, (“Michigan's Bavaria”) and ride through its covered bridge.

Maine

In Maine, the state worked with local cyclists to choose the best route using the East Coast Greenway and the Atlantic Coast Route.

Maine's USBR 1 begins on an historic bridge just upriver from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, a symbol of the state's rich maritime history. The route follows low-traffic roads connecting many of Maine's major towns and cities. In Portland, the route follows the Eastern Promontory shore with views of the many islands in Casco Bay. Farther north, USBR 1 follows sections of the state's three major rivers with historic forts and many mills. In Bangor, Maine's second largest city, the route passes by the large statue of Paul Bunyan, a testament to the region's forest products industry along the mighty Penobscot River. (An alternate route, U.S. Bike Route 1A, follows the coast more closely connecting to many harbor towns.) After passing Acadia National Park, USBR 1 continues northeast along the less visited and less-developed “Downeast” coast en-route to the border crossing into New Brunswick. USBR 1 and the coastal alternate are also segments of the East Coast Greenway.

New Hampshire

Route 1 continues into New Hampshire, following the New Hampshire Seacoast Greenway bike route.

Alaska

The new routes approved for Alaska include USBR 8, which is part of the Alaskan Highway and connects to destinations in Canada and is actually part of the Pan American Highway. USBR 95 is the Richardson Highway connecting Delta Junction to Valdez, a ferry stop on the Alaska Marine Highway. USBR 97 runs from Fairbanks to Seward through Anchorage. USBR 87 also connects to the ferry system.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/05/11/us-bicycle-routes-approved-in-maine-new-hampshire-michigan-and-alaska/

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