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This month, Jeff Stephens had some fun with street paint.

With the city’s permission, of course.

Last week, the executive director of Consider Biking (pictured) helped officials in Columbus, Ohio, install sharrows on High Street. After a year of waiting, nearly 190 markers are now alerting motorists that cyclists have equal rights to the full lane. Much to Consider Biking’s liking, the sharrows are highly visible and placed only 200 feet apart along the 6.5-mile stretch.

That’s not the only promising development in Columbus, a city that has a strong complete streets policy that aims to make roadways accessible to all users.

In addition to the paint sprayer, Stephens wielded some scissors, helping Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman cut the ribbon on new improvements to Morse Street. A critical east-west corridor, that artery now has three miles of bike lanes.

So it’s no surprise that Consider Biking gives the city some love in its latest newsletter: “Experience across the country demonstrates that bike lanes help encourage more people to bicycle on the road. And we know that more bicycles on the road translates to increased safety for bicyclists, too. We applaud the City for their commitment to building ‘complete streets’ and look forward to helping unveil more dedicated bike lanes across the city as the summer progresses.”

Check out Consider Biking’s Facebook page for more photos.

On the first day of Bike to Work Week, Consider Biking launched a commuter initiative backed by Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman and more than 70 business leaders across central Ohio. To get things rolling, “Bikin’ Mike” Coleman and dozens of CEOs demonstrated their dedication with a 2.5-mile bike commute to celebrate the start of “2 BY 2012.”

The “2 BY 2012” campaign aims to nearly triple bicycle commuting in the Columbus area and it’s already garnered some big-name partners, including JPMorgan Chase and Nationwide Insurance. Working with the central Ohio corporations, Consider Biking will provide consultation to engage employees and encourage bike commuting. In addition to a $295,000 grant from The Columbus Foundation, the “2 BY 2012” initiative has received support from the Alliance for Biking & Walking through its Advocacy Advance Grant program.

“This is definitely the largest show of CEO support for bicycle commuting ever held in the United States,” said Jeff Miller, President and CEO of the Alliance for Biking & Walking.

“The ‘2 BY 2012’ initiative is our goal to get as many central Ohio citizens as possible to bicycle to work two days per month by 2012, which is the Columbus bicentennial,” said Jeff Stephens, executive director of Consider Biking. “Bicycle commuting two days per month would make Columbus the greenest city in the country. And two days per month is a reasonable goal that many can aspire to.”

Check out Consider Biking to read more about today’s launch event and the “2 BY 2012” initiative.

According to Central Ohio’s Consider Biking, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) recently became the first large metropolitan planning organization in the country to adopt a solid complete streets policy. The complete streets policy, approved on April 8, 2010, will replace the region’s existing routine accommodation policy.

Complete streets are streets that are designed and operated with users of every age and ability in mind. Now every roadway project in central Ohio that uses MORPC funds must enable safe and comfortable access for pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, public transit, people with disabilities, delivery and service personnel, freight haulers, emergency responders, and other users. For more information visit ConsiderBiking.org.

Special thanks to Christopher Doenlen for contributing this member news.

Consider Biking has convened a Cycling Corporate Caucus representing more than twenty of Columbus’ largest employers. Since the formation of the caucus in 2009, Consider Biking has held meetings, and in partnership with Leadership Columbus, developed a “Two-Wheel Toolkit”. Consider Biking introduced the toolkit in a meeting with many of Columbus’ largest organizations’ CEOs, presenting information on encouraging employees to bicycle more and providing targeted resources for each specific audience within a business.

ConsiderBiking activated the caucus in late December in order to speak in unified support of a funding request on behalf of the city of Columbus to implement the Columbus Bike Plan. The caucus drafted a “case for support” that demonstrated why investment in bicycling is good for Columbus’ community’s health and economic efforts, but also for a business’s bottom line.

Consider Biking states “We had over 20 of our community’s most prominent business leaders & CEOs, sign our letter of support. No doubt - our business leaders “get it” We believe major organizations and workforces have the ability to affect behavior change quickly.  That’s why we’re placing a significant effort on our worksite intervention Mode Shift program. (Bike to Work and Bike Away from Work).”

For more information about the “Two Wheel Toolkit” and to learn more about how the caucus is affecting its community, visit http://www.considerbiking.org/activities/consulting/

On January 14, Consider Biking helped reinforce the right for bicyclists to ride in the road, and take the lane if necessary. The organization provided legal defense in Municipal Court for a cyclist who was incorrectly cited for “not riding as far to the right as possible.” According to Jeff Stephens, Consider Biking’s Executive Director, “We saw this case as a critical means to reinforce the excellent bicycling (traffic) laws we helped Columbus enhance in late 2008.”

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Smarter Cities, a Natural Resource Defense Council project that examines cities’ progress towards environmental sustainability, ranked Columbus in its top fifteen because of its commitment to being bicycle friendly. The Bicentennial Bikeways Plan calls to double the city’s 50 miles of bike lanes and trails by the city’s bicentennial in 2012 and sets goals for 200 miles of paths connecting greenways and activity centers by 2018 and 1,000 new bike racks by 2028. The plan is a result of the advocacy efforts of Alliance organization Consider Biking.

To read about Columbus and the other sustainable US cities, click here…

To read what Smarter Cities had to say about Columbus, click here…