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Trailside QR codes teach bike safety lessons

Programs / Safety

Short videos provide lessons for families to engage in bike safety lessons.

Neighborhood bike trails are great places to explore and learn about bike safety in an off-street environment. At the end of September 2023, a set of trailside signs with QR codes were placed along the Beerline Trail in the Riverwest neighborhood of Milwaukee. Each QR code takes you to short 1-2 min videos of specific lessons on how to maintain your bike, how to look before crossing a road, and how to scan, or look back, and more! The signs begin on the eastern end of the trail by Cafe Corazon and are spaced apart near locations where the specific lessons could be applied in real life situations.

This sign is outside La Escuela Fratney and you can use the Traffic Garden on the playground to practice outside school hours!

Riverwest is known for being a bike-friendly community, hosting such events as the Riverwest 24. In recent years Fratney St. was also converted into a Bike Boulevard through traffic calming measures. La Escuela Fratney, a Milwaukee Public Schools partner with our Safe Routes to School program, also installed a Traffic Garden on the playground. Trail managers, Riverworks, has done a lot of great work to make the trail a place to welcome people and activate previously abandoned places. We thank them for their support to post the signs along the trail.

The first two signs are on Bremen St. just north of Snail’s Crossing playground near Cafe Corazon.

Other communities around the state that are sharing the educational signs include:

  • Antigo/Langlade
  • Appleton
  • Beloit
  • Cottage Grove
  • Delafield
  • Fort Atkinson
  • McFarland
  • Menasha
  • West Allis
  • Whitefish Bay
  • Whitewater
  • Wisconsin Rapids

The WI DNR also posted two sets of signs for their OutWiGo initiative, and 20 sets have been sponsored by Aspirus of Wausau for distribution in North Central Wisconsin.

young bike riders near Menasha Trailside signs
Young cyclists enjoy a Menasha park that features trailside signs.
Police Officer demonstrating use of Trailside signs in Menasha 2022
A family gets introduced to the trailside signs in Menasha.

You can learn more about our Teaching Safe Bicycling programs, and about Community membership levels that include trailside signs (one set with a $500 membership level and two sets with logo at the $1000 membership level).

We encourage you to get out on the trail, share with friends, and tell your community leaders about the signs! We’d love to get some feedback and see pictures of your family enjoying the trail and learning from the signs.

Thanks to TMJ4 and Adriana Mendez for coming out to help spread the word!

This program was funded with a grant from Wisconsin Department of Transportation: Bureau of Transportation Safety.