Biketopia:  Dramatically increasing Boulder's bike mode share

On Dec 6th, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Salon in collaboration with Bike Belong and Community Cylcles presented Biketopia:  Dramatically increasing Boulder's bike mode share.  Martha Roskowski outlined a plan for pushing Boulder beyond it status as a leading bike community in North America, and towards taking a place amontg the world's best cities for cycling!

Community Cycles advocacy committee will be working with the city on modifications to the Transportation Master Plan.  Many of the proposed goals will be similar to the Biketopia presentation.  Near term, CC will be asking for citizen involvement in urging the city to approve the Transportation Maintenance Fee that will fund bicycle infrastructure improvements.

Here's a short Summary:  The Blue Line

Here are the slides:  Biketopia:  Dramatically Increasing Bouder's bike mode share

City of Boulder to Offer Subsidized Bike Racks to Local Businesses

The City of Boulder is working in partnership with Community Cycles to launch a pilot program that will
offer low cost bike racks and installation for qualifying businesses.

According to city bike/ped planner, Marni Ratzel "Much of the bike parking at shopping centers and in
front of local businesses is not adequate because it was installed before current standards that consider
a higher demand for bike parking and more secure racks. This pilot program seeks to address the lack of
quality bike parking for bicyclists and businesses."

Businesses can apply for subsidized racks and installation by completing an online form to request racks.
Business can purchase up to five inverted U type racks at a discounted price of $50 per rack. Quantities
are limited and will be first come, first served, based on need. Included in the rack fee is site inspection
by a Community Cycles representative to help determine the best location for rack placement.
Businesses are required to maintain bike racks, including snow and ice removal around the racks.

For businesses seeking assistance with installing racks, Community cycles will complete installation at
a discounted rate of $50 per rack.  Businesses that do not choose to have Community Cycles complete the installation must install the racks within 6 weeks after taking the delivery of the racks.

"This is an excellent opportunity to get quality bike parking at some locations in Boulder that are
seriously lacking," says Community Cycles Advocacy Director Sue Prant. "We are really excited to be part
of this project that is addressing the needs of people who ride bikes in Boulder."

For more information, contact Sue Prant at sue@communitycycles.org or Marni Ratzel…

Cyclists and motorists traveling north along Folsom Street will notice something new at the intersections of Canyon Boulevard and Pearl Street—green bike turning lanes. As part of a pilot project, the City of Boulder’s Transportation Division has installed the new pavement markings to promote community awareness and increase safety for both cyclists and motorists.

The city is testing the green bike turning lanes’ effectiveness with reducing “right hook” collisions, which involve a motorist making a right turn and accidentally colliding with a cyclist traveling in the same direction in the adjacent bike lane.

Citywide, approximately 14 percent of all motor vehicle collisions involving cyclists have been attributed to right hook collisions.  

The new pavement markings on Folsom Street are the first phase of the pilot project, with additional green bike turning lanes planned along Colorado Avenue and Table Mesa Drive this fall. Evaluations to test the effectiveness of the markings will include field observations and an online community survey to gather input from cyclists and motorists.

As reported last month, Community Cycles has been appealing to CDOT to improve conditions for cyclists at the US36 and Violet intersection following the second fatal bike accident in 3 years. The entire intersection will undergo a major redesign in 2015, so we are looking for quick mitigations to improve safety now. Community Cycles made a number of suggestions to CDOT that we felt could be quickly implemented at low cost and would greatly improve safety. We are pleased to report that some progress has been made.

CDOT is currently doing a signal warrant study on the intersection. A consultant has been hired to evaluate the intersection and produce a bike lanes striping plan. It is expected bike lanes should be completed by mid October. CDOT will also be doing a study on speed limits on this stretch of road. Thanks to hard work from the Community Cycles advocacy committee, Boulder Transportation Department staff and CDOT, hopefully this intersection will become much safer for bicyclists.

Community Cycles met with CDOT officials for a sight view of US36 and Violet intersection, which has been the site of two bicycle fatalities in the last three years. The current design of the intersection, which is under CDOT jurisdiction, facilitates motorists being able to make a left turn at a high rate of speed onto Violet because of the wide turn radius. The wide shoulder on the road also disappears at the intersection, which forces cyclists into the right turn lane or a high speed through lane. According to crash reports Community Cycles requested, there is remarkable similarity in both accidents.

According to discussions with CDOT, the intersection is set for construction in 2015. That project will re-design the intersection so that Violet meets US36 at a 90-degree angle, getting rid of the wide turn radius for motorists making a left onto Violet.

In the meantime, Community Cycles requested a meeting with CDOT officials at the crash site to look for immediate mitigations that can be made to make this intersection safer while we wait for the 2015 re-design project. City of Boulder Transportation Department and Boulder County Representatives also attended this sight view.

Community Cycles asked for the speed limits be lowered and a bike lane installed through the intersection. We requested the bike lane be painted to make it more obvious. Studies in Portland, OR have shown cyclists feel 50% safer in colored bike lanes and there has been a 20% increase in motorists yielding to cyclists in colored lanes.  A Demark study showed colored bike lanes reduced bike-car collisions by 38% and reduced fatalities and serious injuries by 71%.

While it took a fair amount of convincing of CDOT to agree to look into these…

New development is coming to the Boulder Junction area. Pearl Parkway will become a multi-way boulevard, with two center travel lanes and a side street with parking. The multi-way boulevard is a new idea in Boulder. Community Cycles worked with Planning and Transportation to support a design option for the multi-way boulevard that had parking on the street side rather than curb-side. Meanwhile, developers of 3100 Pearl will construct a multi-use path parallel to Pearl that will eventually meet the Foothills path. However, this multi-use path would stop short of connecting with the underpass at the Boulder Slough. Completion of this missing link was not planned for some time. We worked with the city to move the missing link of the trail up in the project queue and recommended for funding.

Hey BOLT riders! Tired of lugging your bike on and off the bus every day? The Bus Then Bike program offers long-term bicycle parking in a card-key accessed shelter on 28th and Iris in Boulder and downtown Longmont. The shelters will provide a secure place for bikes and bike accessories to be stored overnight. Community Cycles is partnering with the county on this program and along with Bike Longmont will provide maintenance to the bike shelters.

Thanks to efforts of the Community Cycles Advocacy Committee, the city of Boulder  has applied for a BikeStation as part of a $4 million application to the Federal Transit Administration to remodel the 14th Street and Walnut Transit Center. The new station would include more areas for passenger pick-up, more spaces for bus layovers, a more attractive and safer waiting area for passengers, and 250 secure, protected bike parking spaces. The city will find out later this year if funds are awarded to this project.

Boulder is examining options for bicycle and pedestrian connections east of Crest View Elementary School. Of the three options on the table, two involve adding 5-foot-wide sidewalks to residential streets, while the third is a paved or gravel path along the Fourmile Canyon Creek drainage. All cost roughly the same amount.  Community Cycles strongly supports including a paved multi-use path along the creek with an underpass at 19th Street. This plan was approved by the public and city council in the original NOBO plan. The path can be plowed, allowing safe access all year. This option also represents an important segment of the planned Fourmile Creek Path.

Community Cycles and GO Boulder have named 41 Boulder businesses "bike friendly," based on the results of a survey ranking businesses' efforts to make biking a feasible option for customers and employees. To become a Boulder Bike Friendly Business, fill out our survey here. To learn more, click here.

Advocacy committee members recently gave the city a helping hand by surveying all bike lanes in our city for damage and maintenance needs. Some of the hot spots we reported have already been taken care of! We hope to make this an annual event.

Committee members attended comment sessions for the County's Transportation Master Plan. We will continue to follow this process and give input when we can. More information can be found here: http://www.bouldercounty.org/sustain/trans/pages/default.aspx.

When a segment of the business community has economic clout, it's often easier to get the attention of decision makers. In Boulder, we know that bicycle-related businesses contribute substantially to the economy. To quantify this, Community Cycles is conducting a survey of local bicycle-related businesses (58 of them!) to determine their local economic impact. This information will be used to push for pro-bicycling policies in Boulder.

The survey was featured in the Camera.

Here's our flyer suitable for sharing with those curious about the impact of cycling on Boulder's economy.

Another sub group led by Sue Prant is working on coordinating the 2011 Walk and Bike Month activities. Much of the advocacy committees work ties in with Bike to Work Month activities. Contact Sue at bikesue@gmail.com if you'd like to help.

The Community Cycles Advocacy Committee has created a survey to assess the needs of the local bicycling community. We will use the results of the survey to better serve the Boulder cycling community and improve Community Cycles programs. Take the Boulder Bicycle Survey now.

CC's Advocacy Director recently testified before the board of the Denver Regional Council of Governments in support of six bicycle and bus projects in Boulder and Boulder county that may be cut from the regional Transportation Improvement Plan. The Boulder projects scored well in the regional cooperation process, but when Denver did not receive funding for its highway project, officials went around the process and suggested cutting the Boulder projects. We will keep you posted.