Bike Walk Coral Gables (BWCG) fully supports the City Commission’s proposal to lower the speed limit from 30 MPH to 25 MPH on residential streets in the City of Coral Gables. Although most residential streets in Coral Gables provide a network of walkable, shaded streets, many people biking or walking feel unsafe due to excessive speeding by motor vehicles. These speeding motorists are typically not local residents, but commuters driving through these neighborhoods. Lowering the speed limit, coupled with proper police enforcement and strategic traffic calming, will make our residential streets safer for people to move around on foot and bike. 

Many studies have shown that the probability and seriousness of bodily injury and death increases dramatically when a bicyclist or pedestrian is struck by a motor vehicle traveling at speeds in excess of 25 MPH. Moreover, we know from local surveys and personal experience that concern for personal safety is a primary factor that keeps people from riding a bike on city streets. Lowering the speed limit will help to encourage more active transportation and recreation, resulting in a healthier, more livable community.

Coral Gables prides itself on being a family-friendly city and offering its residents a high quality of life. World class cities such as New York City, Seattle, Boston, Paris, Stockholm, London, Cambridge, and other communities have all recently lowered their speed limits. They recognize the benefits that accrue for everyone from slower vehicular speeds. 

Along with the lowering of the speed limit from 30 MPH to 25 MPH, BWCG encourages the City of Coral Gables to implement street designs that incentivize slow speeds (narrowing or reducing the numbers of traffic lanes, and adding street trees, blub-outs and other traffic calming features). A commitment should be made to focus the City’s resources on proven strategies to eliminate fatal and serious traffic crashes. BWCG strongly believes that this goal can only be accomplished encouraging slower speeds on city streets. Lowering the street speed limit from 30 to 25 MPH would be a significant step in the right direction.

Get involved, speak up, and tell our commissioners that you support slower, safer streets. 

The ordinance to reduce the speed limit passed on first reading on January 24, and will be heard at second reading on Tuesday, May 9. 

More info on the proposed ordinance here.

Happy New Year! To kick off the year right, Bike Walk Coral Gables invites you to have a healthy and active 2017 with us this year. 

If you could only choose one event this year, don't miss our annual Gables Bike Day on Sunday, March 12. Hosted by Bike Walk Coral Gables, we offer free bike safety training, bike tours, kids' zone, live music, food venders, scavenger hunt, and tons of free stuff. 

Want to try biking monthly with a group? Join us and the Coral Gables Museum on our monthly Gables Bike Tours. On the 3rd Sunday of every month, we offer a different route and theme so you can explore more of our streets, environment, history, and most importantly - feeling more comfortable riding a bike on urban streets. Riding with a group is a great way to have fun, get fit, and enjoy the great scenery around Coral Gables. 

Serious about riding a bike more, but not sure where to start? Take advantage of our Bike Mentorship program. Bike Walk Coral Gables offers experienced cyclists to teach anyone how to ride safely; choose comfortable routes; and provide support as you start to ride more often. People who commute by bike lose an average of 15 pounds in their first year of riding. 

Interested in getting involved in bike/walk advocacy? Volunteer or Sponsor an event to help make our community more friendly for people who bike and walk. 

Thank you for your support for Bike Walk Coral Gables (BWCG) in 2016. Our community and supporters have been essential to our success this year and we’re proud of what we’ve achieved together.

We started the year with a Trek the Trail #GablesBikeTour to learn and explore the important work the Friends of the Ludlam Trail having been doing on the future Ludlam Trail. We also led a Bike Option for interested participants with our friends at the Coral Gables Community Foundation for their annual Tour of Kitchens. We’ll offer this Bike Option again for February 4, 2017 – sign up and join us!

On February 28, we held our 5th annual Gables Bike Day with thousands of our closest friends and neighbors in front of City Hall. Dozens of kids learned how to bike safely from our friends at BikeSafe. Our hourly bike tours were filled to capacity as tour guides, including former Mayor Don Slesnick and former Commissioner Ralph Cabrera, shared the history of our City Beautiful at several landmarks. Join us for our next Gables Bike Day on March 12, 2017 and invite your friends!

As part of Bike Month, we partnered with the City and hosted a Bike to Work Day to encourage Coral Gables residents and businesses to try commuting to work by bike for a day. We also helped our friends at The Underline for the inaugural Underline Cycling Club monthly ride. Later in March, we hosted our 4th annual Bike & BBQ with our partners at the Coral Gables Museum. Bring yourself, your friends, and your appetite next time on April 23, 2017!

As part of our efforts to promote bike safety, we offered a bike ride leader training course with our friend Mary Beth Garcia from the Everglades Bicycle Club. We later applied these techniques at the inaugural Dade Heritage Trust Miami Bike Tours series, offered by our BWCG Board Member Christine Rupp.

We officially thanked our Gables Bike Day 2016 sponsors with personalized plaques at our Sponsor Appreciation event on May 3rd. We also introduced our incoming Bike Walk Coral Gables Board officers and recognized our dedicated volunteer board members for all they do to make our community safe for biking and walking.

Thanks to the generosity of our community and sponsors, we were able to donate downtown Coral Gables’ very first bike fixit station. We officially presented a check to the City Commission on July 26 and installed the station in August at the Museum Plaza.

In September, Bike Walk Coral Gables was selected as a winner in the Miami Foundation’s Public Space Challenge and received a grant to create an urban park on the corner of Galiano and Almeria. The “Galiano Green” Downtown Community Park will be a small green oasis in downtown Coral Gables and offer seating, shade, and bike amenities. The park is expected to open in spring of 2017.

Our bike fixit station was officially unveiled on September 18, with Commissioner Vince Lago and City Manager Cathy Swanson attending and sharing the City’s appreciation of Bike Walk Coral Gables’ contributions to our community. We showed participants how to use the different tools available on the fixit station.

In October, the Coral Gables TV interviewed BWCG board members about the new bike fixit station and general questions about biking comfortably and safely in Coral Gables. The film crew also joined a couple of our popular monthly bike tours.

We participated in the Miami Foundation’s annual Give Miami Day event for the second time on November 17 and raised more than $2,000 – over 4x a much as last year. We’re looking forward to participating next year on Thursday, November 16, 2017.  

On December 9th, we presented the “Galiano Green” Downtown Community Park to the Coral Gables Parks & Recreation Advisory Board. The board unanimously approved the concept site plan and are looking forward to its expected opening in spring of 2017.

We’re closing 2016 with a Facebook goal to reach 2,500 “likes” on our Bike Walk Coral Gables page – we’re only a few short. Help us reach this milestone by inviting your friends to “like” our page to stay updated on local events and initiatives that promote safer streets in our community for people to bike and walk.

We’re looking forward to making our neighborhoods better for biking and walking with all of you again in 2017.

Happy Holidays!

Bike Walk Coral Gables, the City Beautiful’s bike and walk advocacy group, revealed the organization’s new logo and bike tours for the new year.

Some 50 to 100 people regularly attend the monthly bike tours that are offered in partnership with the Coral Gables Museum on the third Sunday of every month. The theme and route of the educational bicycle tours vary each month to offer participants different perspectives of Coral Gables.

The upcoming bike tours cover a wide range of topics including arts and crafts on February 19. Art Successes - Coral Gables’ Public Art Path is one of many bike tours that starts with a brief explanation of the museum’s exhibit. Once participants have had the chance to learn about the topic, they are escorted on their bikes by trained ride leaders on a scenic route to relevant locations around the city. For a list of all the upcoming tours, click here. 

The anticipated Gables Bike Day, an event that closes streets to cars for people to safely walk and bike, is set for Sunday, March 12. Over a thousand people from around South Florida descend on downtown Coral Gables to bike, walk, roller-blade and skate board on streets that are usually filled with cars. Bike Walk Coral Gables has already started big plans for this sixth annual celebration.

Bike Walk Coral Gables is also proud to have a new look with an updated organization logo and website. The new logo instantly communicates the non-profit’s mission of safe biking and walking, while it also ties into the City Beautiful with the use of the iconic street sign. The logo was designed by local graphic designer, Little Gables Group.

For more information on what Bike Walk Coral Gables offers the community and see the bike tours lined up for next year, visit www.bikewalkcoralgables.com

On Thursday, November 17, 2016, Bike Walk Coral Gables will be participating in Give Miami Day 2016 to raise funds to further expand our reach in our community. Let us know that you support our efforts in bicycle and pedestrian safety by donating to our cause on November 17.

Gables Bike Day, an annual event hosted by Bike Walk Coral Gables, offers safe streets that are closed to motorized vehicles in downtown Coral Gables for people to walk, bike, skate, and by active. A bike rodeo is used to develop kids' biking abilities; food and drink venders line the street; bike tours are offered to show the city's history; and music and exercise classes take place in front of City Hall. The event attracts thousands of people from around South Florida. 

Bike Walk Coral Gables also provides monthly bike tours the 3rd Sunday of every month in partnership with Coral Gables Museum. The bike mentorship program, another program that Bike Walk Coral Gables offers, help individuals feel more comfortable using a bike; and the "Galiano Green" is expected to open in Spring of 2017. 

On November 17, you can click on the Donate button on the BWCG Give Miami Day page to make a donation. 

Please like, share, and spread the word! 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! 

The bike culture in Coral Gables has gained speed in the last few years. More people are riding bikes on the streets of the City Beautiful than they ever have before. Bike Walk Coral Gables continues to advocate for safer and accessible streets for people on bike and foot for over five years. 

Coral Gables TV has taken note to this recent phenomenon and decided to produce a piece about biking in Coral Gables. As part of their news release, Brianna Moles, producer and host, interviewed former Chair, John Swain, about the recent donation of the bike fixit station from Bike Walk Coral Gables. John was able to show how to use the fixit station; demonstrate the included tools; and pump air into the tires. 

Jennifer Garcia, Board Chair, was also interviewed to describe the growth of bike popularity in Coral Gables. She spoke about the programs Bike Walk Coral Gables offers the community that helps them feel more comfortable on a bike. The monthly Gables Bike Tours with the Coral Gables Museum; Gables Bike Day; and the bike mentorship program are just a few the organization offers. 

Bike Walk Coral Gables (BWCG) unveiled their newest gift to the City of Coral Gables on Sunday, September 18: a bike fixit station. The Dero repair station is located at the corner of Salzedo and Giralda in the Coral Gables Museum plaza and is equipped with all of the tools necessary for a cyclist to preform minor repairs and tune-ups, such as: wrenches, screwdrivers, tire levers, and an attached tire pump. Users can easily scan the QR code on the station with their smart phone to access a variety of tutorials on how to perform bike repairs.

“As a father of two young children, this is exactly what I think Coral Gables should be about and should represent on a daily basis. Bike Walk Coral Gables is an important voice pushing and steering for what we need to do in reference to bike and pedestrian safety,” said Commissioner Vince Lago on Sunday, September 18th at the unveiling of the bike fix-it station. 

In partnership with the Coral Gables Museum, Bike Walk Coral Gables offers monthly Gables Bike Tours. These casual bike tours start at 10am every third Sunday of the month at the museum. The addition of the bike fixit station will be an asset for bike tour participants, as BWCG plans to periodically offer live demonstrations. 

Bike Walk Coral Gables also plans to film a short video to teach and refresh the community on how to preform basic repairs and maintenance using the tools provided on the fixit station. This video will be shared on social media to educate all cyclists how to use bike fixit stations that are nearest to them. 

“We’re so excited about the green that you’re establishing,” shares City Manager Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark, after Bike Walk Coral Gables announced their newest future initiative, the Galiano Green, a 2016 Public Space Challenge project. “We walk by and drive by that space all the time, and we never saw in it the potential of it becoming a really special space. We salute you and are there to assist you. We look forward to future projects that you see when we’re not looking.”

Bike Walk Coral Gables (BWCG) is proud to announce that our submission of a “Downtown Coral Gables Community Park” has been selected as one of 19 winners selected from 400+ ideas submitted by our community to the 2016 Public Space Challenge, a program of The Miami Foundation. 

Bike Walk Coral Gables submitted an idea to create a small public park in the green buffer in front of the parking lot at the corner of Galiano and Almeria. While the city is known for its tree-lined streets and high quality green spaces, this is not the case in the city’s densest area. The city’s population is 50,000, though it doubles during the day when office workers, service personnel, and tourists flock to one of the more popular downtowns in the county. Population and tourism continue to increase in the downtown area with added residential units, streetscape improvements, and the implementation of the citywide bike master plan. Downtown and adjacent neighborhoods are one of the rare areas in Miami where one can still live affordably while also enjoying a high quality of life. To build a sense of community and contribute to the livability of downtown, the area needs additional public spaces where people can have lunch, sit in the shade on a hot day, or just enjoy the sights. The park – centrally located in the downtown - will offer a passive space to gather, interact, and relax in a natural environment. The park will also include a bike repair station, covered bike parking, a water station, and other amenities to cater to bike commuters and recreational cyclists in the area.

The Public Space Challenge is a platform for residents to create, improve and activate parks and public spaces in their neighborhoods. This year, individuals, organizations and public agencies throughout Miami-Dade County submitted more than 400 ideas, setting a new record for number of entries since the program began in 2012. In partnership with the Health Foundation of South Florida and the Office of Miami-Dade County Commissioner Juan C. Zapata, District 11, The Miami Foundation will invest $305,000 to help residents make the winning projects happen. In addition to the funding, each group will receive technical assistance from The Miami Foundation to work with county and municipal offices in executing their projects. Click here to learn more about the winning entries.

As Bike Walk Coral Gables continues to promote cycling and walking as safe forms of transportation, the organization recently donated a new bike amenity in Downtown Coral Gables. 

A bike fixit station can now be found at the corner of the Coral Gables Museum plaza, courtesy of Bike Walk Coral Gables. This Dero repair station is equipped with all the tools necessary for a cyclist to perform minor repairs and tune ups – such as wrenches, screw drivers, tire levers, and an attached tire pump. Users can easily scan the QR code on the station with their smart phone to access a variety of tutorials on how to perform bike repairs. 

Bike Walk Coral Gables formally presented the City of Coral Gables with a check for the purchase of the bike repair station at the July 26 City Commission meeting. 

A formal ribbon-cutting will take place on Sunday morning, September 18. All avid cyclists, casual bike riders, and general people who like to see more people walking and biking in the City Beautiful are welcome to attend. 

Bike Walk Coral Gables presented a Bike Repair Station to the City of Coral Gables at the July 26, 2016 Commission Meeting. It will soon be installed at the southeast corner of Salzedo and Giralda - the first fixit station in Downtown Coral Gables (there is one other station at the Venetian Pool). This facility will enable cyclists to preform basic bike repairs and maintenance, from changing a flat to adjusting brakes.

BWCG Chair, Jennifer Garcia, gave a brief explanation of the bike facility and showed a short video showing how to use the DERO fixit. The BWCG Board Officers presented a symbolic check to the City as part of the short ceremony.

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Bike Walk Coral Gables was selected as finalist for the 2016 Public Space Challenge. 

The Galiano Green creates a public green space with seating, shade, and bike amenities on a leftover space along a downtown Gables parking lot. A catalyst project to a slightly larger park, the short term plan is to activate and improve an existing strip of green that residents and visitors can enjoy in the middle of a bustling urban area.

Downtown Coral Gables lacks public civic space. While the city is known for its tree-lined streets and high quality green spaces, this is not the case in the city’s most dense area. The city’s population is 50,000, though it doubles during the day when office workers, service personnel, and tourists flock to one of the more popular downtowns in the county. Population and tourism continue to increase in the downtown area with added residential units, streetscape improvements, and the implementation of the citywide bike master plan. Downtown and adjacent neighborhoods are one of the rare areas in Miami where one can still live affordably while also enjoying a high quality of life. To build a sense of community and contribute to the livability of downtown, the area needs additional public spaces where people can have lunch, sit in the shade on a hot day, or just enjoy the sights.

The Galiano Green – centrally located in the downtown - will offer a passive space to gather, interact, and relax in a natural environment. The park will be highly desired and utilized during the 18-month construction of the Miracle Mile streetscape and attract people of all generations with movable furniture, bike facilities, and plenty of shade. Located on the Galiano bike boulevard and the envisioned "Downtown Greenway," the park will have a bike repair station, covered bike parking, a water station, and other amenities to cater to bike commuters and recreational cyclists in the area.

With the support of the City of Coral Gables' Public Works Department, Parks and Recreation, Parking Department, City Manager, and other City staff, Bike Walk Coral Gables submitted the Galiano Green request for the 2016 Public Space Challenge the end of June, 2016. 

Attracting thousands of people, Gables Bike Day 2016 was one of the most successful ciclovia in the City Beautiful to date. Held on Sunday, February 28, this celebration of biking and walking was made possible by the generous support of our sponsors. The City of Coral Gables is the Major Sponsor; and Baptist Health is Gables Bike Day 2016 Supporting Sponsor. Waste Management, Forte Properties, No Boundaries, Gables Museum, Shake 108FM, Canon Business Solutions, Coral Gables Business Improvement District (BID), University of Miami, and Milam's Markets were our Contributing Sponsors. Don and Jeannett Slesnick and the Coral Gables FOP also helped sponsor this year's event. 

Robert Ruano, Founding Chair, John Swain, Chair, and Jennifer Garcia, Chair-elect, presented each sponsor with a plaque to show the organization's appreciation. After all the sponsors present were recognized, Bike Walk Coral Gables installed the new Board officers: Chair - Jennifer Garcia; Vice-Chair - Adhys Obeso; Treasurer - John Swain; and Secretary - Kenneth Garcia. 

If you're interested in joining our sponsorship program for Gables Bike Day 2017, please contact us.