By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

The final phase of Bike Hays is underway and is expected to be completed by mid-August.

More than 18 miles of bike lanes and shared routes crisscrossing Hays are being installed this summer.

Installation of pavement markings began Monday by Road Safe, a subcontractor for APAC-Kansas, Inc.

The work starts in the northwest part of town and will proceed to the southeast area of Hays.

“The bike lane paintings, the sharrows paintings–the symbols on the street–the wayfinding signs, the markers, will all be implemented in June. So before the end of summer we’ll have roughly 21 miles of bike system for our community,” said Assistant Hays City Manager Paul Briseno.

Concrete paths make up a little more than 2.75 miles of the system along with 18 miles of on-street segments. The routes and paths can be found online at www.bikehays.com.

To celebrate the beginning of the Bike Hays system, a “groundpainting” ceremony will be held Thursday, June 4, at 5:30 p.m. at 11th and Main. The public is encouraged to ride their bikes to the event.

It’s being held in conjunction with a downtown block party hosted by Kandango, a backroads tour bike group, which will kick off their four-day event with the Ellis 1/2 Pint, a 14.2 mile jaunt to Ellis from Hays.