Despite the rain Wednesday, at least two dozen Tacoma bicyclists pedaled their way to The Hub restaurant and pub in Tacoma to celebrate National Bike Month and talk about the need for more bikeways.

Inside the Stadium District eatery, happy hour was extended and there was free pizza for riders, courtesy of Pat Nagle, owner of the bike-themed restaurant and himself an avid cyclist.

“There is a huge need in any urban setting for more bike lanes,” he said.

Diane Wiatr, the city’s full-time mobility planner, arranged the informal gathering to encourage cyclists to be part of the effort to create a comprehensive bicycle, pedestrian and transit system.

“We want to make Tacoma a place for all levels of (cycling) ability,” she said, “not just for the strong.”

Joe Izenman, 25, commutes to work about five miles a day and rides 50 miles every weekend around the city. He complains there are many wide streets that could accommodate a painted bike lane and make his ride safer and easier.

“They don’t have to be everywhere,” he said.

Rick and Heather Valtee had biked the four miles from their Westgate home. A beginning rider, she would like a plan to include a strong education component so that both drivers and cyclists know the rules.

The city has had a master plan for a network of bicycle paths and lanes since 1997, but little has been done to implement it. Money was one factor, but the political will to make anything happen also was sporadic.

In 1997, one person handled nonmotorized planning in the city, and he worked on it only one day every two weeks.

The city plans to try again, and officials appear more serious about accomplishing something. The city has hired Mia Birk and Alta Planning + Design of Portland for $200,000 to put together a plan that will integrate bicycles, walking and transit. It also will include an implementation timetable and funding strategy.

Wiatr admitted that little came out of the last plan, but said she was optimistic about the future. She called Birk the “rock star” of bicycle planning.

“What we are doing is trying to improve facilities so that those people on the fence about biking can make a choice to give it a try and be comfortable and safe,” she said.

Last year, the city adopted a Complete Streets ordinance that mandates bicycle and pedestrian improvements on new and reconstructed streets. In addition, a city task force has recommended a climate action plan that focuses on providing transportation alternatives, because 50 percent of carbon emissions come from vehicles.

“The city recognizes it has to catch up with other jurisdictions that are local and in the Pacific Northwest,” Wiatr said. “Residents are interested in having other options.”

The biggest need in Tacoma is obvious to anyone who tries to negotiate the city by bicycle, she said. Holes in the transit system leave bicyclists frustrated or dumped out onto dangerous arterials.

For example, the biggest complaint from cyclists is that marked bike paths and bike trails don’t connect up. “We have such an inadequate system,” said Steve Garrett, a bicycling advocate and member of the Tacoma Wheelmen’s Bicycle Club. “We have a lot of work to do.”

Another complaint, he said, is that the city has no bikeways to employment or transit centers. Plus, no bikeways link Tacoma with surrounding cities.

The need for a connected comprehensive bikeway system is there, said Bob Myrick, another Wheelmen’s member who handles community and government liaison work for the club. He has seen an increase in all kinds of bicyclists in Tacoma in the past 10 years.

“It went pretty crazy when the gas prices went up,” he said. “I saw more people in the streets, and the bicycle shops were busy.”

Myrick said he has seen a corresponding improvement in relations between drivers and cyclists. Simply having more bicyclists on the streets makes drivers more aware and cyclists safer, he said.

While the Wheelmen’s club keeps its advocacy low key, other mostly younger cyclists have taken to using what are termed “critical mass” rides to make the point that the streets belong to them too. Last month, some 60 people gathered at Jefferson Park on North Ninth Street and rode en masse on city streets, clogging traffic.

Tacoma is about where Portland was 15 or 20 years ago, said Birk of Alta Planning + Design. She was Portland’s first bicycle coordinator in the 1990s before turning to consulting.

In the past two decades, Portland spent $50 million to create 275 miles of bikeways and make the city one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the country, Birk said.

The value of the bicycle industry to Portland’s economy was pegged at nearly $90 million in September 2008, a 40 percent increase from 2006, Birk said. The bicycle-related economy also generated 850 to 1,150 jobs in Portland, she said.

Birk feels Tacoma has “tremendous potential” to make immediate progress.

“The recipe for success is there,” she said. “It’s a community that has excited advocates. Tacoma has a city staff that is well trained and enthusiastic. There is upper management support and support at the City Council and state level.”

Mike Archbold: 253-597-8692 mike.archbold@thenewstribune.com