17TH STREET
BIKE LANE PROJECT
BBC POSITION STATEMENT
Boulder Bicycle Commuters supports the 17th Street bike lane project between
Athens and Pine streets. This statement was adopted unanimously at our
March 3 meeting.
We urge the city of Boulder to proceed with this project, with the following
provisions:
ON-STREET BIKE LANES
• Install on-street bike lanes on both sides of 17th Street from
Athens to Pine streets.
• Extend the southbound bike lane south past Athens, to connect
with the uphill bike lane going up to University Ave.
• Given existing space constraints, we support the following configuration
for 17th Street:
- Two regular auto travel lanes, one each
direction.
- Two on-street bike lanes, one each direction.
- Automobile parking lane, one side only,
only when space allows.
- Buffer strip between parking lane and
bike lane, to protect cyclists from suddenly opened car doors.
- Existing detached sidewalks.
- Existing verges, trees, and landscaping.
• Remove existing on-street auto parking on 17th Street, as needed,
to obtain the space needed for the bike lanes.
• Do not widen 17th Street anywhere for the purpose of keeping parking
while adding bike lanes.
• Make the bike lanes straight, direct, and unobstructed.
• Do not make any curves in bike lanes, as has been suggested.
• Use a curb design that eliminates the seam between the bike lane
and gutter pan. Also eliminate special breaks in the side slope of the
bike lane that could present irregular surfaces to cyclists.
• Please pave the curb-side bike lanes to full width with seamless
asphalt, not concrete, all the way to the curb face.
• Do not expand 17th Street at intersections. Eliminate automobile
turn lanes as needed to provide space to install the bike lanes.
• Paint stripes on both sides of the parking lane buffer strip.
• The buffer strip will also provide some room for snow plow drifts
while maintaining an open bike lane next to parking.
LANE WIDTHS
There are a variety of existing curb-to-curb widths on this section of
17th Street, between 36 and 50 feet. When bike lanes are installed, our
preferred lane widths and configurations are as follows. In order to make
clear a complex request, we present this as a set of formulas:
- Bike lane next to curb: 6 feet
with NO gutter seam. (Standard is 5 feet plus 1-1/2 foot gutter pan.)
- Bike lane next to parking lane: 5 feet
(standard).
- Auto travel lanes: 11 feet (standard).
- Parking lane: 8 feet (standard).
- Buffer strip: 3 feet.
- Total width needed between curb faces:
44 feet.
For available width from 44 to 42 feet, please reduce these dimensions
as follows:
- Reduce the curb-side bike lane and buffer
strip widths by equal amounts as needed, down to 5 feet and 2 feet respectively.
For available width from 42 to 40 feet feet, in addition to above:
- Reduce the buffer strip alone as
needed, from 2 feet to none.
Below 40 feet, we urge that parking lanes on both sides of the street
be eliminated.
In addition, please consider reducing auto travel lane width to 10 or
10-1/2 feet where necessary to fit the desired bike lanes plus one parking
lane.
TRAFFIC MITIGATION
• Provide traffic mitigation measures as needed over time, to deal
with automobile speeding problems. We support and recommend these measures
for 17th Street:
- Complete striping of crosswalks
across 17th Street, both sides of the intersection, at every side street.
- Official regulatory signs and centerline
bollards, "Stop For Pedestrians In Crosswalk".
- Automatic speed sensor warning signs.
- Raised crosswalks, if necessary.
- Remove extra automobile turn lanes to
decrease crossing distance and discourage excess automobile travel.
• Please do NOT install traffic mitigation neckdowns that protrude
into bike lanes. They are not appropriate for this project and would be
hazardous to cyclists.
• Request Boulder Valley School District, the University, and local
businesses and agencies to step up their programs to ask people to find
alternatives to driving, and seek jobs or homes close to each other to
reduce the need for automobiles.
REASONS TO SUPPORT 17TH STREET BIKE LANES:
• Provide a high-quality north-south bicycle connection that is
presently lacking in this area.
• Provide good bike access from central and north Boulder to:
- Boulder High School
- University
- Boulder Creek Path
- Uni Hill commercial area
• This project has been in the Transportation Master Plan since
at least 1996.
• Improve pedestrian environment and safety. Bike lanes will get
more cyclists, especially faster ones, off the sidewalks.
• Improve safety for cyclists. Current conditions mix cyclists with
auto traffic, exposing them to opening car doors due to on-street parking.
• This project will encourage MORE people to use bikes and leave
their autos behind.
• Bike lanes will help reduce the need for the displaced parking
spaces.
