The second annual Smart Ride to LuLu’s, which is scheduled for Sunday, will travel through Magnolia Springs and Foley and hopes to raise awareness about making the area a safer place for all means of transportation, from walking to bicycle riding to public transit use.

The event includes an 18-mile bike ride beginning at Jesse’s Restaurant in Magnolia Springs and finishing at LuLu’s at Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores and a 37-mile ride from Page and Palette in Fairhope to LuLu’s. The ride will benefit Smart Coast’s Complete the Street initiatives which hope to draw attention to the need for roadways and paths designed to protect pedestrians, bikers, cars public transit and all user groups.

“Complete the Streets is a policy that we’re working with getting cities, and we hope counties, to pass,” Charlene Lee, Smart Coast program director, said. “It says the street should be safe for all user groups. What that means is motorists use the streets, but they’re also used by pedestrians, bikes, walkers, wheel chairs. It should be safe for all the groups who use it.”

“We’ve had five cities that have passed policies,” she said. “Once they pass the policy, they’re saying that they value the right of all user groups to be able to use the streets safely.”

Some ways to make streets more user friendly is adding crosswalks at intersections and in the middle of streets and narrowing lanes to allow more space for bicyclers.

“The reality is sidewalks do cost a bit of money in the economy we are in,” Lee said. “When cities resurface the streets, a lot are narrowing the lanes and making it smaller so there can be a bike lane. When you narrow lanes, cars slow down, accidents and fatalities reduce and people feel safer.”

Magnolia Springs Mayor Charles Houser said the reason the town has not began building sidewalks is because of funding.

“Our plan is to connect U.S. 98 with County Road 26,” Houser said.

Lee said Fairhope was the first municipality in the state to adopt complete street policies, and Daphne soon followed. Foley has yet to adopt any policies, Lee said, but the city has done a lot of sidewalk projects to make the area more walker friendly.

“We’ve got a $450,000 grant from the Alabama Department of Transportation that we put bid out for around a week ago,” Foley Mayor John Koniar said, noting the city participates in a Rails to Trails program, which use existing abandoned railroad lines. “We’re very much into that. It’s a matter of getting the grants and getting the money to do it…One of our long-term goals is to tie all the schools and parks together with sidewalks.”

Koniar said the city would participate in the event, with the Foley Police Department helping out since the route travels through the area.

“They will make sure the route is accessible and safe,” Koniar said. “(Smart Coast) is doing a good thing. They are raising awareness, and we support that.”

The money raised from the event will be used for safety education campaigns, Lee said. There are around 130 people signed up for this year’s event, and around 157 participated last year. The ride from Fairhope begins at 8:30 a.m., while the ride leaving from Jesse’s Restaurant will begin at 9:30 a.m. There will be a post-ride party at LuLu’s. Residents still can register, with the cost being $30 per person.

For more information, or to register for the ride, visit www.smartcoast.org or call 251-928-2309.