What to know about Thurman native Luke Hoffman, the new Iowa Bicycle Coalition director

The new director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition wants to make roads safer for cyclists and to make cycling an economic development tool for communities large and small.

Luke Hoffman, 34, of Des Moines, was named the executive director of the Coralville-based bicycling advocacy group on Oct. 2 to replace outgoing director Mark Wyatt after almost two decades.

A Thurman, Iowa native, Hoffman previously worked at Iowa Rivers Revival, a nonprofit dedicated to improving, protecting and enhancing Iowa's waterways.

Who is Luke Hoffman?

The son of a pastor, Hoffman moved around a lot as a child but called Thurman in southwest Iowa home. There he developed a love for the outdoors and cycling. When he was a kid learning to ride his bike, he threw away his training wheels.

"That's one of my first memories," Hoffman said. "And that look of excitement you have when you're a kid ready to be on a bike. As a kid I loved it and rediscovered it as an adult."

He holds a political science degree and a master's in public administration from the University of Nebraska Omaha.

His favorite place to ride in Iowa is on the Wabash Trace Nature Trail, a 63-mile converted rail bed from Council Bluffs to Blanchard. Among its highlights: rusting boxcars from a decades-old train wreck that sit in a creek bed next to the trail.

"It's built into the riverbank. They can't remove it now because it would hurt the river. It's been there for so long it's part of it," Hoffman said.

Now a Des Moines resident, he is a member of the Tall Dog Bike Club.

Outgoing Executive Director Mark Wyatt announced in July that he would leave the job after 19 years. Wyatt plans to work in emergency medical services, where he started his career, before retiring. Under Wyatt, the coalition lobbied the state to increase penalties for distracted drivers, led efforts to add thousands of miles of multi-use trails in Iowa and provided bike safety education for hundreds of thousands of children.

What are Luke Hoffman's goals for the Iowa Bicycle Coalition?

A 2018 ADT Security Systems study named Iowa the most dangerous place for cyclists in the country based on the number of fatal crashes, a dearth of bike lanes and other factors.

Since then cities like Des Moines have added buffered bike lanes or protected bike lanes. But taking a cue from Wyatt's work, Hoffman said there is still work to do strengthening Iowa's distracted driving laws.

"It's a great place for cyclists, but it's not a great place for bicycle safety," he said.

In the spring the Iowa Senate considered a bill that would ban the use of any electronic device while driving. Voice-activated or hands-free devices would still be allowed. It called for fines of $45 to $100 for violations.

"It got almost all the way through the Senate this last time," Hoffman said. "And the Senate is behind it. This would be finishing the job to pass that bill."

Hoffman also plans to lobby the Iowa Legislature to pass a bill that would require cars on multilane roadways to change lanes to pass cyclists.

"That would save lives, as well," Hoffman said.

How does Luke Hoffman see biking as benefiting Iowa?

A longer-range goal for Hoffman is to create a paved trail network across Iowa. Though the home of the Register's Great Annual Bicycle Ride Across Iowa for 50 years, Iowa, unlike some neighboring states, has no dedicated cross-state bikeway, and without state funding it will take at least 15 years to complete it, Hoffman said.

Cycling in Iowa: Iowa's bike trails, tourism ambitions grow along with RAGBRAI

In April 2022, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced the state would make $100 million in Destination Iowa funds available through the American Rescue Plan to create tourism attractions and improve recreational amenities. A fifth of the projects, receiving a combined total of $22.9 million, were bike trails in areas including the Sioux City, Cedar Rapids and Waterloo metros. In the Des Moines metro, the program allocated funds for the connector between the High Trestle and Raccoon River Valley trails.

Hoffman would like to see the state spend some of its $1.83 billion budget surplus to fund the completion of the network. Missouri's cross-state Katy Trail attracted more than 500,000 visitors and had an economic impact of $29.2 million in 2022, according to the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation.

The Katy Trail supports about 400 jobs across Missouri. A cross-state trail in Iowa could have similar economic benefits, Hoffman said.

"Thinking about economic development for those small towns line Mineola, like Malvern, like Shenandoah, and even the towns adjacent to trails are going to benefit from us making that kind of an investment," Hoffman said.

Philip Joens covers retail, real estate and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184, pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: New Iowa Bicycle Coalition chief sees economic development opportunity