City presents proposal for 17th St. bike lanes
By Krista Nordback
The city's new proposal for the 17th St. bike lanes has finally become public. It includes several improvements supported by BBC. The new plan would add bike lanes on both sides of 17th St. from Athens (the bottom of the hill) to Walnut St., install two new pedestrian crosswalks, and create one raised pedestrian crossing.
The proposal is less ambitious in its plan for 17th St. than the city's Transportation Master Plan, which shows bike lanes from Athens to Pine Streets. However, both motor vehicle traffic and bicycle traffic counts are lower north of Walnut St. than they are on the southern portion of 17th St. City staff employed “bicyclist stress level” evaluation guidelines to show that the southern section is currently appropriate only for cyclists with “moderate” or “high” skill levels. The guidelines indicate that the northern section is appropriate for cyclists with “low” or better skill level. Staff reasoned that this, combined with the desire to not reduce parking near Pearl St., made Walnut the logical place to end the lanes.
The proposal requires widening 17th St. only at the southwest corner island at Arapahoe and 17th. To compensate for the width of the bike lanes, on-street parking would be removed from one side of 17th. A total of 44 on-street parking spaces would be removed, including those to be removed for the pedestrian crossings. Minimum bike lane widths of 5 ft, including the gutter pan, would be used in tight stretches near intersections. A raised crossing and median are proposed for the University and 17th St. area. Two pedestrian crosswalks with median refuges would be added: one at Marine and one at Grove.
Two city boards will be holding public hearings on the proposed 17th St. bike lanes: the Downtown Management Commission (DMC) and the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB). Details of the meetings are listed below.
The City Council will make the final decision on the project either by calling up the matter at their September 21st meeting, or by not calling it up, if they feel comfortable with the recommendations of city staff and the Boards.
An asphalt overlay of 17th St. is scheduled begin in the fall 2004. If approved, bike lanes would be installed at that time.
Below are the details of the public meetings. The next Boulder Bicycle Commuters meeting has been rescheduled for the lobby of the Municipal Building at 5:30 pm to coincide with the start of the DMC meeting.
What : Downtown Management Commission Meeting with public hearing on 17th St. Bike lanes.
When : 5:30 pm, Monday, August 2nd.
Where : Municipal Building, 1777 Broadway on the southwest corner of Canyon and Broadway, Council Chambers, 2nd Floor.
What : Transportation Advisory Board Meeting with public hearing on 17th St. bike lanes.
When : 6 pm, Monday, August 30th.
Where : Municipal Building, 1777 Broadway on the southwest corner of Canyon and Broadway, Council Chambers, 2nd Floor.
BBC will meet in the downstairs lobby at the start of both meetings. If you miss us, head upstairs to council chambers. For both meetings, if you choose to speak in the public hearing part of the meeting, please sign up when you enter.
If you have questions, please call Dave Allured, BBC spokesperson for 17th St, at 303-499-7466.