Little Rock has been named one of 374 "Bicycle Friendly Communities" nationwide after years of working toward the designation.
The League of American Bicyclists plans to announce the title Wednesday.
Little Rock gained the bronze-level recognition, the lowest of five given by the national group.
The city was given an honorable mention in 2013, but it didn't receive the Bicycle Friendly Community designation until the Little Rock Board of Directors adopted a "complete streets" policy.
Complete streets policies have gained traction across the nation in recent years. They emphasize that streets be designed for all users, including motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation users, people with disabilities and freight haulers. Little Rock's board adopted such a policy last year.
Little Rock now joins four other Arkansas locations -- the cities of North Little Rock, Conway and Fayetteville, and the Arkansas State University campus in Jonesboro -- with recognition from the League of American Bicyclists.
Little Rock's application for recognition was "extensive," said John Landosky, the city's bicycle and pedestrian coordinator. He started in that position in November and submitted the application in February.
Mayor Mark Stodola said having Landosky on board was likely a factor in getting the designation.
"I'm excited and honored the city is moving up the ladder," Stodola said. "We got honorable mention a couple of years ago, and since then we have hired a bicycle pedestrian coordinator on staff, and we have a complete streets ordinance that ranks very high."
The city's complete streets policy was recently recognized as one of the top 10 in the country.
More than 900 communities have applied for a Bicycle Friendly Community designation since the award's inception in 2000, according to a news release. With the new batch of awards to be announced Wednesday, there are now 374 such communities in the 50 states.
"The BFC program is revolutionizing the way communities evaluate their quality of life, sustainability and transportation networks, while allowing them to benchmark their progress toward improving their bicycle-friendliness," the League of American Bicyclists news release said.
Bill Nesper, vice president of programs at the league, said Bicycle Friendly Communities are committed to making bicycling a safe and convenient option for transportation, as well as recreation.
"We are encouraged by the growing number of leaders who see bicycling as a way to build more vibrant, healthy, sustainable and connected communities and be a part of the solution to many complex challenges faced at both the community and national levels," Nesper said.
The league also gave Little Rock recommendations to improve bicycling in the city. Little Rock can now work toward earning the silver, gold, platinum or diamond levels of the Bicycle Friendly Community award.
Actions that could help Little Rock obtain a silver-level recognition include creating a "signature" bike-related event involving the public, expanding educational programs, launching a bike-share system, reaching out to businesses, creating opportunities for off-street bike recreation, and expanding bicycle parking, according to the league.
Little Rock already excels in some categories, such as having bike-to-work events, having a bicycle master plan and having a complete streets policy.
"We expect that as people feel safer taking their bikes onto our street network due to increased number of bike lanes, that we will see more bike commuting," Landosky said. "As bike commuting becomes more common, we hope that people driving vehicles and people riding bicycles become more adept at coexisting."
City Manager Bruce Moore said the city has pledged to make the street system friendly to all modes of transit.
"Recognition of our efforts shows that Little Rock is on the right course to transform our streets into a modern, multimodal transportation network," Moore said.
Metro on 05/16/2016