For 10 years, Diane Wiatr has led the City of Tacoma’s efforts to make Tacoma more bikable and walkable for all. You’ve probably seen Diane riding the streets of Tacoma in her signature polka dot helmet. We sat down with Diane to thank her and ask her a few questions.
Your favorite way to get around:
Bike is most fun, affordable and efficient by far.
Your favorite Tacoma project:
The bike corral in front of Red Hot and the aberrant lady bike sharrows on S. Park Ave.
Your favorite Tacoma bike facility:
Prairie Line Trail through UWT
What’s great about Tacoma:
The diverse and active bicycling community
What’s the first thing Tacoma should improve:
Dependable dedicated funding and a prioritized list of projects that will be completed in the next 5 years to build the bikeways network.
Diane has been recruited to a great new position at the Washington State Department of Transportation and we’re excited to see where she’ll take our great state with multi-modal transportation. Tacoma would not be great without you and your bikable, walkable legacy!
Thank you, Diane, for making Tacoma great by:
- building a robust network of bike infrastructure (and leaving us with a plan to build the rest!)
- designing Tacoma’s first bike boulevard connecting downtown Tacoma to south and north Tacoma
- starting the City’s Bike and Pedestrian Technical Advisory Committee (BPTAG)
- starting Tacoma’s first Transportation Management Organization, Downtown On the Go, and serving our Executive Committee for seven years
- developing a robust array of walking and bicycling events and programs aimed at building a more inclusive active transportation culture – including starting Tacoma’s annual open streets event Downtown to Defiance
- bringing the Major Taylor Project to Tacoma
- representing Tacoma as the co-chair of Puget Sound Regional Council’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee
- helping create what is now the Puyallup Watershed Initiative’s Active Transportation Community of Interest
“Bicyclists are a varied bunch but there is a common end goal of safety on the roadways and similar desire to build the bike culture in this town. The more people walk and bike the better place Tacoma will be. Gil Penalosa said something along the lines of, If you build a city for cars, you get more cars. If you build a city for the movement of people you get health and happiness. So let’s use our public right of way to move toward greater equity and happiness.” – Diane Wiatr