Ray may be considered by some to be the godfather of greenways in
Indiana. Ray worked for the City of Indianapolis from 1993-2005 as the
Indianapolis Greenways & Bike Route System Manager. From 2005-2008
Irvin was the Director of Greenways and Bikeways for the Indiana
Department of Transportation. I had the pleasure of chatting with Ray
recently about the bicycling movement in Indiana, what has been done,
and what is still needed. The good news is that our Governor, our
Mayors, and many other community leaders are interested in greenway
development. The bad news is that money is scarce. As an expert in
trail design, Irvin now offers his services as a consultant to plan,
design, develop and manage Greenways. Ray has earned numerous awards
including the Greenways Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award and the
Distinguished Hoosier Award from Governor O'Bannon.
Randy Clark, bicycle advocate and owner of Bicycle Garage Indy has
worked with Ray on numerous projects. Clark says "Ray is a truly
unique individual. He has always worked within the bureaucratic
structure of government but is inherently a mis-match for that
environment. That makes him a "guerilla bureaucrat" - one who
understands the system, refuses to submit to the system and finds a way
to work around it and get the job done."
The next time you're enjoying a ride on a greenway in Indiana, take
a moment to be thankful for people like Ray who made it possible, while
moving the needle.
