Canalways to Bikeways... Could this be the next version of the Boise Greenbelt? I sure think so!

Next week we'll celebrate 50 years of the Boise Greenbelt! The hard work of our visionary Greenbelt pioneers created something far beyond transformative for this community. Their efforts, in many ways, saved the Boise River and created the central nervous system of the community we love today. People told these pioneers that their vision was impossible, that it would destroy Boise, and that it was already too late to get started.

Can you imagine what Boise would look like today if they would have listened to the naysayers?

Now, let's imagine what the next step might look like. Let's imagine the next level of deep community-connection. Let's imagine a similar effort with our extensive CANAL SYSTEM that stretches through Boise and beyond. Transformative? Without a doubt!

This would not be an easy endeavor. It would take massive cross-sectoral collaboration (forming close mutually beneficial relationships with canal districts), it would take extensive citizen involvement, and it would be pretty dang EXCITING!

For the last the 9 months, the Boise Bicycle Project, Idaho Sierra Club, Idaho Conservation League and Conservation Voters of Idaho have been learning, meeting with potential stakeholders, and working hard to get this ball rolling. Now it’s time for you to jump in and put some legs to this movement. It's already being done across the country, it’s being done in Twin Falls, it’s even happening in Nampa, and now it’s time to lay the ground work in Boise.

Here are two major action items to get involved.

1. Sign the petition hosted on Sierra Clubs website. By signing on you are agreeing to get more information about the efforts, agreeing to get an invite to the first community meeting, and saying YES, I’d like to explore multi use paths along canals in Boise.

2. Join us for a screening of Motherload at BBP on Friday Sept 20th. There are only 50 tickets available for the show and we will be doing a canal presentation at the beginning.

Other ideas, questions, and comments? Send them to Jimmy@boisebicycleproject.org