Traverse City Slow Roll celebrates bike culture and safer streets

Bicyclists rolled out from Oryana Community Co-op on E. Tenth Street at 6 p.m. Wednesday, turning Traverse City’s Slow Roll into a moving showcase for the city’s bike culture and its push for safer ways to get around without a car. The ride, led by Norte Youth Cycling, was part of the 32nd annual Smart Commute Week and gave a visible boost to a weeklong campaign aimed at shifting some trips to bikes, buses, carpools and walking.

The event landed in the middle of a broader effort by TART Trails to promote Smart Commute TC as a regional program built through partnerships with local businesses, governments and nonprofit organizations. Smart Commute Week ran June 1-5, with events designed to encourage alternative transportation and spotlight the practical benefits of leaving the car behind for at least part of the trip.

For Traverse City, the Slow Roll also fit into a larger civic identity. The city said it received a silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community award in 2026 from the League of American Bicyclists, which uses a five-part framework known as the 5 E’s to evaluate bike access and support. City officials said the recognition reflected investments in bike education programs, encouragement activities, pro-bike policies and bicycle infrastructure. Mayor Amy Shamroe said the city’s welcoming biking culture contributes to livability.

That culture is built into the street grid itself. Traverse City says its bike-friendly streets and multi-use paths link neighborhoods, schools, downtown and parks, while its broader mobility network includes non-motorized trails, a dedicated cycle track on Eighth Street, bike lanes, sharrows and 99 miles of sidewalks. TART Trails says its network spans multi-use trails in Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties, plus a cross-town bike route, and the Michigan portion of U.S. Bicycle Route 35 passes through the area along the TART Trail and Leelanau Trail.

The TART Trail is described as a 10-mile to 10.5-mile paved non-motorized corridor stretching from M-72 and Bates Road in Acme Township to Carter Road in Traverse City, where it connects with the Leelanau Trail. That reach matters well beyond recreation. It links neighborhoods, downtown and regional destinations, and it gives residents a route that can serve commuting, family rides and summer tourism at the same time. The Slow Roll showed how those pieces come together, and how much local transportation policy now depends on whether riders can trust the streets enough to use them every day.