While American Fork continues to be saddled with road constructions — to the west, the 900 West widening and repaving; to the east, the repaving of State Street and 500 East — few here are ready to think about a new project, more orange cones, flaggers, lane restrictions and cross street closures, even if it entails a pedestrian and bike trail, in a city that has just raised its water bill.

UDOT officials are claiming that the end of the CORE project is near, an enormous endeavor that started in the winter of 2010 and expanded I-15 by two lanes in each direction, rebuilt and reconfigured 10 interchanges; restored 63 bridges and generated countless delays for commuters. Now, American Fork City in a bike and pedestrian trail planning open house on Tuesday is asking if you’re ready for more.

But what few in American Fork know is that this project, which vies to make the city bike friendly and safer for pedestrians, will cost its residents nothing.

“There is a program in place, a federal program that is administered locally through a regional planning agency that is funded at 93% and the city matches the rest,” said Councilmember Heidi Rodeback. “So the vast majority used for this study comes from federal grants essentially.”

Better yet, American Fork mayor James H. Hadfield said that the 7% left to pay for the study are not drawn from the city’s coffers, but are part of its membership fee with M.A.G., the Mountainland Association of Governments which serves the three-county region of Summit, Wasatch and Utah counties, a population of 576,418.

“MAG charges each municipality that they serve in the three-county area, based on their population,” Mayor Hadfield said. “We pay a membership fee based on population.”

American Fork is the latest municipality to take advantage of government funding to become cycle friendly. Its city council went on a one-day field trip to Boulder to study its bike trails in May. While cycling is growing fast in all cities, Boulder ranks second in most cycle-friendly city, according to Bicycling magazine, behind Washington, DC, and ahead of Minneapolis, Portland and Chicago. But Chicago said it will build over 30 miles of protected cycle lanes this year, aiming at becoming the largest cycle-friendly city in the country. Near us, Lehi has just had a trail plan open house last week and is expected to adopt the bicycle and pedestrian master plan later this year.

The total number of annual bike trips more than tripled from 1977 to 2009, according to studies highlighting the growth in the nation. Commuting cyclists have also increased in number, with twice as many biking to work in 2009 as in 2000.

To prepare a bicycle and pedestrian plan, the Mountainland Association of Governments, on behalf of American Fork and Lehi, selected the team of InterPlan and Alta Planning + Design. At the head of the project: Travis Jensen, a senior associate and a transportation engineer, also considered a young and rising star in the business. Mr. Jensen said he got into the field after he decided to write a paper for a transportation engineering class at BYU about how Provo could make itself more bike friendly.

“My professor encouraged me to go and give the mayor a copy of my paper,” Mr. Jensen said. “Before I knew it, I’d been appointed chair of the Provo Bicycle Committee, and I didn’t even own a bicycle yet.”

Still, the big unknown is whether American Fork residents, especially women, will take advantage of those trails. Almost all growth in cycling has come from men, studies have shown. Rates of cycling have actually fallen slightly among women and sharply among children, most probably because of safety concerns, according to a paper by John Pucher and Ralph Buehler. But cycling is safer than ever: Fatalities per 10 million bike trips fell by 65% between 1977 and 2009. Experts claim that the health benefits of cycling far exceed the safety risks.

“For me personally, the best reason for a trail system is that it gives my kids more freedom to roam,” said Ms. Rodeback. “With safe sidewalks and trails, I can send my kids to a friend’s house or to a park to play ball without having to get in the car and drive them. This is the kind of freedom I enjoyed as a child, and the kind of freedom I would love for American Fork’s children to be able to enjoy.”

As 48% of trips are shorter than three miles, there is big potential for success, especially for the many in American Fork who live and work here. And with the arrival of the Frontrunner, a key strategy for the plan under development is to connect different modes of transportation, not just different destinations, Ms. Rodeback said.

Ms. Rodeback said in a city council last week that it is in the city’s benefit to get a plan approved because the city will then become eligible for state and transportation grants to build these trails, a project that can take over a decade.

And as the lumbering economy continues to weigh down American Fork families, and gas prices near $4 a gallon, residents seem ready to flirt with the bicycle. But can they end their long love affair with the car? American Fork residents are construction-weary. But their input on the trail plan this week might be more important than they think.

If you’re going: American Fork Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan open house. When: 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2nd. Where: American Fork Senior Citizen Center, 54 E. Main St.

Happy Trails in Happy Valley? The plan for a bicycle-friendly American Fork.

Dark green: Shared-Use Path (within independent right-of-way); Light green: Shared-Use Path (sidepath, along roadway); Bright green: Murdock Canal Trail (completion in 2013); Purple: On-Street Bike Lanes; Dark blue: Pioneer Crossing Bike Route; Light purple: Missing Sidewalk – Both Sides of Street; Orange: Missing Sidewalk – One Side of Street.