Mayor Bill Haslam will unveil a sign from the League of American Bicyclists designating Knoxville as one of its "Bicycle Friendly Communities" during a brief ceremony in Tyson Park.

The event is set for 11 a.m., Tuesday, October 5, near the tennis courts at the Concord Avenue entrance to the park.

Knoxville was named to the list with a Bronze designation by the 300,000-member-strong organization dedicated to promoting bicycling and advocating for cyclists earlier this month. The Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization (or TPO), which includes a bicycling program, led the successful effort that landed Knoxville on the list.

Mike Nix, a League of American Bicyclists' board member and the current president of the National Bicycle Dealers Association, will be on hand to present the designation to the City of Knoxville.

"Anytime our city is recognized for something positive we're pleased," Haslam said. "But we're particularly gratified by this recognition because, with the help of the TPO, the city has made significant efforts to encourage people to ride. Whether it's expanding our greenway system and improving its connections or adding bike lanes to streets we want to increase bicycling opportunities and we plan to continue doing that in the future."

Kelley Segars, a principal planner for the Knoxville Regional TPO, directs its bicycling program. Segars can be reached at 865-215-3815 or at [email protected].

The number of bicyclists in Knoxville has increased substantially in recent years both in terms of people riding for leisure and those who use their bikes for transportation to work, shopping and other trips.

The U.S. Census Bureau's most recent American Community Survey indicates that nearly 1,000 people in Knoxville commute to work on their bicycles roughly triple the number in 2006.

The percentage of bicycling commuting, just over 1 percent, is more than twice the national average.