By Jonathan Devin - The Commercial Appeal -

Kyle Wagenschutz, a 27-year-old former logistics manager for a local commodities trader, has been named as the city's first bicycle/pedestrian coordinator, Mayor A C Wharton announced Tuesday.

Wagenschutz's duties will include training and education on bicycle and pedestrian planning design issues for all municipalities within the Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization jurisdictions.

He will also coordinate bicycle and pedestrian partnerships with Mid-South communities outside Memphis in Tennessee and Mississippi and with government agencies.

Wagenschutz said he believes Memphis has missed opportunities to receive grant money for bicycle and pedestrian projects in the past because no one person has ever been devoted to the issue.

"You look around at other American cities like New York City, Portland and Chicago and they've been planning for and investing in these types of facilities for the past 30 or 40 years," he said. "Even as recently as the early to mid-'90s, Congress stepped up its funding sources to municipalities. We're just now starting to tap into that."

Wagenschutz holds a bachelor's of business administration in management information systems and a master's degree in city and regional planning from the University of Memphis. He has lived in the Mid-South since 1998.

For the last year and a half, Wagenschutz has been director of Revolutions Community Bicycle Shop, a ministry of First Congregational Church in Midtown. The organization trains children and adults in bike repair and maintenance while helping them build their own bicycles from recycled parts.

Wagenschutz is also on the board of directors for Bike Walk Tennessee, a statewide advocacy group, and has participated as a member of the Memphis MPO Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee for the past two years.

Wagenschutz's position will be funded by the city and the Metropolitan Planning Organization.

"Let me be very clear that even though it is a new position, we are not adding new employees to city government during this time of cutbacks and austere spending," Wharton said.

"Wagenschutz's experience in this field, strong planning background, and clear passion for bike and pedestrian causes makes him the ideal person for the job," Wharton said.

"Having a bicycle/pedestrian coordinator on staff brings Memphis closer to the forefront of livability and sustainability programming," Wharton said.