On behalf of the board of Bisbee Bikeways we would like to express our appreciation to the City and County for creating a draft Bisbee Area Master Mobility Plan, and for assisting in moving the Lavender Pit Feasibility Study forward. For more than two years Bisbee Bikeways has diligently lobbied for the creation of this Master Plan and for a comprehensive multi-use path network that offers safer pedestrian and biking access to Bisbee area residents. We appreciate that much of the Bisbee Bikeways Concept Map that we painstakingly developed has been incorporated into this draft Master Plan. 

The purpose of this letter is to respectfully request that Bisbee Bikeways be included as an active participant in developing, reviewing, and drafting the final Master Plan, and be included as a stakeholder in the feasibility study for the Lavender Pit. 

Bisbee Bikeways has dedicated countless hours to unite a coalition of stakeholders including the City of Bisbee, ADOT, Cochise County, Freeport McMoRan and the public.  We have collected 16 letters of support from stakeholders such as the Bisbee Unified School District, and 10 letters of support from small businesses in town. We have led focus groups, and offered Bisbee students and Spanish speakers a chance to answer the master plan survey the City released. We have spent thousands of hours researching potential routes; as well as the economic, health, and environmental benefits of a non-motorized transportation network. We have written several grants, including the USDA grant that is currently funding the Lavender Pit Feasibility Study. We wrote the Scope of Work for the Bisbee Area Master Mobility Plan. We have developed an expert understanding of active transport possibilities in the Bisbee area.

The draft Bisbee Area Master Mobility Plan is a good starting point and Bisbee Bikeways can help facilitate the enhancement of several areas to meet the needs of the community. These areas include but are not limited to the following:

• A prioritization and implementation schedule of the pathways
• Recommendations for funding options
• Referencing the Lavender Pit Feasibility Study 
• Adequate public outreach process including neighborhood and school focus groups, intercept surveys, and public forum meetings
• Greater Transparency including a high-resolution copy of the Master Plan and Feasibility Study updates posted on the City of Bisbee website
• Multimodal network recommended on page 39 of the BAMMP mirror the Bisbee Bikeways Concept Map

Bisbee Bikeways spearheaded this project, and we have conducted the research and grant writing that is being used by the City and County to complete the Master Plan and Lavender Pit Feasibility Study. Therefore we respectfully request that Bisbee Bikeways be included as an active participant in developing, reviewing, and drafting the final Master Plan, and be included as a stakeholder in the feasibility study for the Lavender Pit. 

Sincerely, Bisbee Bikeways Board Members: Stephanie Peavey, Sarah Meggison, Gregg Garfin and Meggen Connolley