Anyone who has ever biked down Broadway knows how unpleasant of an experience it can be. Between cars passing far too close and at high speeds, and having to fight for space in a bus lane, most people just avoid Broadway altogether—understandably.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. The reality is that Broadway has the potential to become a major thoroughfare not only for cars, but also for bikes and pedestrians. And this isn’t just one bike advocate’s pipe dream; plans for a bike-friendly Broadway have already been designed by city planners and approved by the Golden Triangle Neighborhood.
See these images of plans and renderings of Broadway from the newly completed Golden Triangle Neighborhood Plan:
Proposed design for the intersection of Broadway and 11th Avenue:
Images courtesy of City and County of Denver and Golden Triangle Neighborhood Plan.
The plan was approved by a Golden Triangle Neighborhood vote back in November, and as is clearly evident, includes bold plans for bike and pedestrian infrastructure. According to the plan (available here), there will be a protected bike lane on Broadway all the way from Colfax to Speer, with the possibility for further expansion north and south into adjacent neighborhoods as well. It makes sense. Currently, bikers heading downtown from South Broadway are forced to jump on and off of Bannock (currently the area’s only bike lane, albeit not protected) as it meanders tenuously through residential neighborhoods and by the hospital, then ride through the Sunken Gardens Park just to cross Speer, and finally either walk their bike or merge with high-speed car traffic on Broadway.
Back in December, BikeDenver capped its annual Winter Solstice Ride with a bike parade down Broadway from 12th Avenue all the way to Illegal Pete’s on South Broadway. It definitely felt safer riding with 60 bikers, and without having to worry about buses. But that withstanding, it was a powerful experience showing the potential of Broadway as a true bike corridor in the city.
We already have city and neighborhood support. Now we, as bike advocates, need to band together and make the actual implementation of this a public push for 2015!
Definitely a step in the right direction! Hope to see this implemented soon.
COOL!
Back in the heyday of bikes in Denver (1890s) there was a cycletrack down Broadway at least as far as Alameda.
Let’s keep our eyes open however for attempts to water down the plans and create something not exactly helpful for bikers or walkers. 15th St. provides a good example of what to watch for… “protected bike lanes” which actually double as turn lanes for motor vehicles. That’s not protected, and it’s barely a bike lane. But that is what planners are currently passing off as great bike infrastructure in this town. So watch out for that, all I’m saying.
This plan sounds really good as-is.
The bike path went down Broadway all the way to Palmer Lake there is a video called Victorian Cycles – Wheels of Change that has a complete description of the path from Denver to Palmer Lake over 100 years ago. There are even photos of it running down the west side of the street. Here is a link: https://vimeo.com/album/171723/video/8999116
I don’t understand why they would want to remove 2 lanes of moving traffic that already aren’t enough for a bike lane. This seems ludicrous, as it could be much more used and better for vehicles and bikes if a dedicated bike lane were implemented on Sherman (east of Lincoln) and Acoma (west of Broadway). What’s next? Bike lanes down I-25?
Dan, first of all this part of the plan will be studied more before anything is implemented. Second, the plan calls for removing only one lane of traffic for the bike lanes. That leaves four other lanes for motorized traffic, just like Lincoln is today. What this plan also does is make that dedicated bus transit lane permanent for both Broadway and Lincoln rather than only during peak times, like it is now. What all this means is that during peak time in the new configuration, there will three lanes of general use traffic, just like Lincoln is currently now. So if it is good enough for Lincoln now, then it will be good enough for Broadway. Lastly, Broadway is not a highway: it is a city street, albeit a wide city street.
The other advantages to this potential plan, which I think are just as, if not more important, is the benefits for the pedestrian and the transit rider. I have walked along and crossed Broadway during off-peak times and some drivers drive down it like they are on I-25. These changes will do much to increase the safety of everyone who uses Broadway: drivers, transit riders, cyclists and pedestrians.
I felt the same way initially but we’re both thinking of how Broadway is today and not enough in regards to how this would make it be. It seems like it would be a lot cheaper to build dedicated bike lanes on slower, less busy roads but that doesn’t help businesses nearly as much.
Dan, driving a personal car in urban areas is an antiquated idea, and Denver should stop placating those too lazy to utilize more efficient modes of transportation.
Antiquated or not, it’s reality. It’s also effing cold here 6+ mos/year. Bike lanes are a great idea & we need more of them and this plan is awesome, but spare the the holier-than-thou attitude.
I’m certainly not holier than anyone else; but in this instance, I’m more environmentally conscious (and likely in better shape) than you. Nor do I feel holy when I’m riding past gridlocked traffic, just smarter or a better manager of my time.
Google plans to have its automated car released by 2020. The moment that occurs, the idea of personal car ownership is over. And really, it already is for a staggering number of 18-30 year olds, who don’t share the same fascination with automobiles as their curmudgeonly elders. We need to be designing infrastructure to facilitate the desires and needs of the country’s (now) largest generation, who overwhelmingly demand pervasive public transportation and safe bicycle routes. That is the future.
Stop being so selfish.
Wow, dude. If you read my post, you’d see I’m hardly selfish.
I’m just going to put this here as a public service:
Narcissistic Personality Disorder is characterized by a long-standing pattern of grandiosity (either in fantasy or actual behavior), an overwhelming need for admiration, and usually a complete lack of empathy toward others.
Yes, but a large percentage of “that staggering number of 18-30 year olds, who don’t share the same fascination with automobiles as their curmudgeonly elders” are going to get married, have 2.5 kids, move to Stapleton/Lowery/Congress Park/Park Hill-ish neighborhoods and drive their Subaru’s into the city for work after dropping off the kids at school, or for a night out with the family. Biking is great, and there are a lot of streets that we can make into true multi-modal corridors. But biking (and mass transit believe it or not) is not an option for a lot of people for a lot of reasons. This kind of thinking is dangerously short sighted.
The statistics indicate otherwise, UrbanZen.
18-30 year olds will all be having significantly fewer children and living closer to urban areas than previous generations, who were more disposed to fulfill the scenario you outlined. Millennial are also now the country’s largest age group, and it’s neither selfish nor short-sighted to be designed urban areas based on future demand.
Please try and tell someone from the Northeast or Midwest that Denver is cold six months out of the year, I would love to see the reaction.
I agree, it’s all relative. But, Denver is hardly warm November through March (5 mos), especially during morning hours.
I haven’t had a car in about 2.5 years and ride during the winter time, the only times I don’t ride are in the low single digits, after a major snow storm or when it’s super icy. People would be surprised at how hot you can get while riding in the winter time, the two most important things for me are glasses and and really good gloves.
Seriously, this time of year is really the best time to ride in a lot of ways.
I’ll take the bus to work if there’s snow on the streets and that’s about it. It’s reached 60 degrees on multiple occasions this past week. What are we considering cold?
It’s not that cars are antiquated. Cars will continue to be an important part of the transportation equation in Denver.
It’s that other modes should be supported and given equal weight if we are ever going to provide more options than cars. There is a lot of research and real world examples of bike lanes inducing bike demand just like more roads incudes more car demand.
Places a lot colder than Denver have healthy bike cultures such as all of Northern Europe and Minneapolis.
If we continue to plan everything around personal automobiles, then really Denver will be a place where that mode dominates.
On a related note, bike and foot are modes that are friendly towards mass transit, meaning those are the same people who will use mass transit. Making the city more bike and ped friendly will in turn make demand greater for intra-city transit.
Well said.
Thanks Jeff, very well said.
I want Denver to be a leader in encouraging human powered transportation in the US. What a statement piece it would be to have Broadway offer a protected bike lane from Brighton Blvd to I-25 as per BikeDenver’s vision (love in on Feb 13, 2015 at noon). If Chicago can have 645 miles of bike lanes by 2020 why can’t Denver offer a few miles of truly excellent protected bike lane?
As a bicycle commuter and public transportation user since 2006 I would really appreciate a Broadway bike lane to downtown from the North side. While it can be cold several months out of the year, it is inconsistent. As long as there isn’t bad precipitation or ice on the streets I’ll dress appropriately and ride my ~2 miles/15 minutes which means I am riding year round though switching off with mass transit some days.
I also agree with the “pull” sentiment, that by creating bicycling infrastructure more people will use it. Especially when paired with bike sharing, people can test it out without commitment (no spandex required). I remember thinking how “crazy” people were to ride 17th Street, but it isn’t that they are crazy it is that it is unsafe due to the kind of infrastructure we have chosen to build. Cars are king, but they don’t have to be. Let’s start by thinking of moving people and acknowledging that different people travel in different ways. Remove the stigma and reframe expectations–we’ll get there.
In fact, making streets more bike and ped friendly will reduce car traffic and likely reduce tension between different road users. Wouldn’t reducing time spent commuting and stress for all concerned be great outcomes?
Thus the parking stuctures under all the apartment and office towers now being built.
Only one lane of traffic is being removed and one lane of parking. The Bus lane is being improved to increase efficiency and now Broadway will server north/south bike traffic. The problem with Sherman is that the lights are not timed well for actually commuting, (sure its great for meandering) stopping at every stop sign on a bike is very much dangerous and slow.
I think this is a great idea. Broadway has always struck me as too broad. I think this will really help make the street feel more inviting/pleasant and not harm those in cars too much.
Anyone who needs to get downtown should park at a park n ride south of 1-25 and ride in or deal with a at most a minute or two addition to their car commute.
I believe plans are already in the works to convert Washington into a “bike boulevard” from 6th to 14th – and Galapago on the west from Bayaud to 13th… along with a whole slew of other streets:
https://www.denvergov.org/Portals/193/documents/DLP/knox%20court/BikeBlvdDesignGuidelines.pdf
While I applaud anything that will increase bike ridership and discourage the use of cars, I’ve gotta say that I have mixed feelings about bike lanes, protected or not. They just create such a danger for cyclists at intersections. Perhaps this problem diminishes with increased ridership – meaning that drivers are more apt to look for cyclists when making a turn, but frankly, I feel safer riding in the traffic lane than I do in most bike lanes.
I think the safety issue is largely a matter of better intersection design. But increased ridership and more cycle-tracks will create the impetus for new intersection designs; I would like to believe. Similarly, increased ridership will increase awareness of cyclists at intersections, as you suggest. This principle is clearly seen in places like northern Europe that already have full networks of protected bike lanes in place. Bikes become a fact of life at many intersections just like pedestrians are today.
Thanks for the update Peter!!! Exciting moves toward improved bike access in our city!
In my opinion these changes are not an improvement to Broadway. Wouldn’t creating bike lanes along Grant or Sheerman be a better investment? Where will the displaced traffic go? I can see this as an improvement for the people that live in Cap Hill/Baker and will incentivize increased cycling along this corridor, but how will this improve the commute for south bound traffic leaving downtown that is heading to places like Littleton? Are we expected to believe that Santa Fe can handle two lanes of displaced traffic?
That depends on who you are, if you’re a biker, pedestrian or a business this is definitely an improvement. If you’re a driver then no, this is not necessarily an improvement, though road diets have been proven to not actually hurt commute times by much. You can’t really have bike lanes on Sherman, it’s too narrow but I would like to see Grant converted to a two way street and remove one of the traffic lanes for two bike lanes in either direction.
The displaced traffic will go to any other street, there’s no requirement that you drive on major thoroughfares for your commute.
During peak periods, Lincoln, the northbound portion of the Broadway/Lincoln couplet, has only 3 lanes of general use traffic. Eliminating one lane, and only one lane, of general use traffic on Broadway makes it exactly like Lincoln is now. Anyone who is driving all the way from downtown to Littleton should probably take I-25/Santa Fe or, better yet, take the light rail since it will likely be much faster during rush hour.
How to improve traffic? Simply eliminate the people driving cars. Take busses, get on the light rail, or…uh, ride a bike.
Here we go again. Lets remove more vehicle lanes to accommodate the three or four people who might actually bike down Broadway. I am in downtown a lot and I hardly if ever see anyone use the dedicated bike lane on 15th. The other day I laughed out loud as I passed a guy on his bike riding in a traffic lane adjacent to the protected bike lane. He went several blocks until he was out of sight to me and never used the protected lane. What a waste of money. Our infrastructure crumbles, our bridges in disrepair, it takes public works MONTHS to fix road damage and now we want more bike lanes. Great I love catering to the minority who don’t follow traffic laws anyway. You ever see a biker really stop at a red light or stop sign? Yeh, hardly ever happens. What a joke.
The dedicated Bike Lane on 15th is a Joke, not because people don’t use it (I use it quite a bit) but because it is a cheaply done cop-out for a dedicated lane, underwhelming to say the least. Your car first mentality is part of the problem, the city needs more bike lanes and needs to educate bikers on cycling laws. For what its worth I obey all stop lights when on my bike but having a cyclist stop at all stop signs is a joke.
Oh, your narrow experience is all the sudden gospel? Well, then let me offer mine: I take that bike lane every work day, and there are 2-5 people on bicycles waiting at red lights every time I pull up to one.
Instead, let’s use city statistics, which state cycling to work is up 43% from last year — the fastest growing transportation choice. It’s also the fiscally responsible choice: requiring less maintenance, less infrastructure expansion, and less oversight than cars require. Cycling is also more environmentally responsible, requiring fewer city resources to combat air pollution, and an invaluable benefit, putting less strain on our health care system.
You antediluvian wretches can complain as loudly as you would like, but your car-driving lifestyle is coming to an end in urban areas.
Ryan, your last paragraph is over the line. Please refrain from personal attacks and name-calling in the future. Thanks.
In order for this to be an effective commuter route it has to have lights timed for rapid travel. Grant/Sherman are too slow for long range commutes causing way to many stops for the rider. This increase commute time.
You have to remember, the people traveling down a given route doesn’t change with the addition of a bike lane. The people on bikes would likely have taken a car had the infrastructure not existed. That immediately reduces traffic. Broadway is a destination for a wide swath of the population.
As stated in an article posted here by another user. If done correctly this could actually improve traffic with the addition of the left turn lane. Currently Broadway’s left most lane is dual purpose. If a car must turn left and a pedestrian is present they must stop all traffic in that lane. This causes a domino effect, that is easy to observer, in other lanes.
I think Broadway will become an amazing gem if we are to accomplish this!
I’m not sure I completely understand their renderings. In the second one it shows 3 feet of extra space before the flex lane. The third rendering though doesn’t show that necessary buffer zone (to avoid dooring). Will the 3 feet of buffer zone have physical barriers in them (like 15th street in DC http://wamu.org/sites/wamu.org/files/styles/headline_landscape/public/images/attach/15thstreet_1.jpg?itok=8CZelfKD)
Traffic on Broadway is already narrow and crowded, lets cut off a lane on both sides and get rid of the center turn lane so left turners obstruct traffic flow! Yeah, thats a smart idea!
What center turn lane are you talking about?
Lance, This conversion is for the one-way portion of Broadway, and I think for only the portion north of Speer Blvd. I believe You are referring to the two-way section south of I-25.
More catering to the vocal minority, rather than focusing on the many more people suffering from woefully inadequate transit for a city our size. If you want to guarantee car dependency well into the future, continue turning over right of way for bicycle lanes and the couple hundred people who use them. Just makes it that much harder to develop real city-serving transit in the future.
The sketches and descriptions look very good for bike riders — but what about the bus lane on the right? Has there even been a discussion in the Triangle about upgrading to a streetcar line, where the buses are? Agree with you, Brent, about the vocal minority. Bike riders are the squeaky wheel — but who in the Broadway-Lincoln corridor is calling for rail on Denver’s widest street? An upgrade that would serve many thousands, not just hundreds.
How would a street car be better than the bus? Don’t get me wrong, I think ridership would be higher on a street car and operating costs might be lower but the difference in price is so big that I don’t think it’s worth it.
If you don’t think a streetcar line on Broadway/Lincoln is worth it, then many big cities across the country are on the wrong track — because there’s a rail renaissance going on, even in smaller cities.
It’s going to take a lot more than paint.
http://core77.com/blog/urbanism/how_can_adding_bike_lanes_actually_improve_the_flow_of_car_traffic_while_increasing_overall_safety_in_two_words_clever_design_27636.asp
If it came out functioning like this plan in NYC, it could be pretty sweet. But it could also be a nail in the coffin for any type or real rail transit on Broadway. I gotta believe you could squeeze in a 2-way lightrail spur/street car and a small buffer in that 23-feet they’re taking for the cycle track and flex lane. But then you would lose the parking lane and we know how well that would go over with the merchants. Apparently a lot of people still drive and off street parking is super important to business owners.
With these changes Broadway will become such a great multi-modal street. People are missing the “transit lane” aspect of the design which gives a dedicated transit lane. If RTD expanded the 0 bus on its own lane (so it’s rarely blocked by traffic) so it runs every 5 minutes and then people could take the cycle track, we’d have a fantastic multi-modal street that would give people a great option to ditch their cars and find new ways to commute.
I live on Sherman, a couple blocks east of this proposed bike lane. I ride my bike around this city a lot, and I still think this is a terrible idea. Honestly, with all the calm streets nearby, I find it pretty easy to get around on two wheels. If we’re going to modify a larger street around here, my preference would be an unprotected bike lane on Grant. Reducing the amount of vehicular traffic Broadway can handle sounds like poor planning. This growing urban core needs ample room for delivery trucks, construction equipment, and vehicle passengers who commute in and out of the city. I certainly don’t want that traffic spilling over into my front yard. The squeaky wheels seem to posses a viewpoint that is restricted to the confines of their own lifestyle. Not wanting to ride my bike when it’s 20 degrees outside doesn’t make me lazy. And even when it’s warm outside, I still find myself in plenty of situations which require me to drive my truck up and down Broadway or Lincoln.
Delivery trucks, construction equipment, and vehicle passengers will still be able to travel along Broadway just fine and saying that “I certainly don’t want that traffic spilling over into my front yard.” screams NIMBYism and is kind of selfish. For reference, I live at 11th and Broadway and only ride my bike and walk so I will be just as effected by this.
If anyone would like information about the bike path that went down Broadway over 100 years ago, there is a video called Victorian Cycles – Wheels of Change that has a complete description of the path from Denver to Palmer Lake. There are even photos of it running down the west side of the street. Here is a link: https://vimeo.com/album/171723/video/8999116
Whatever gets bicycles off of the sidewalks (should be cops with ticket books but I guess we can give up on that.) I’m all for.
Broadway does not seem like a good location for a bike lane. Grant would make much more sense as it’s more of a residential street and a bike lane would help bring traffic speeds down to more reasonable speeds there. Further, Broadway and lincoln are some of the major streets in denver helping to move high volumes of traffic in and out of the city. We need some streets like these in Denver to keep the city functioning and growing, because the congestion is getting to unbearable levels.
In the alternative, maybe the bus lanes could be converted to bike lanes during off peak hours?
Couldn’t help but notice the former Gart’s Sports Castle further down the block in the artist’s rendition. One hopes that Sports Authority, the current occupant, would invest in their property should this project be approved (especially the ugly-ass parking garage). Given that Sports Authority Field is Colorado’s premier sports venue, and Broadway represents Denver’s front yard, these improvements will only benefit the community.
That garage is turrible, I’m afraid to even go in there in for fear of it collapsing.
The interior of the store is equally bad. It is fair to say that Denver now has nicer bus stations than the downtown Sports Authority.
Good intentions, but not realistic. Only a small minority would take advantage of such a change and only during about 2/3 of the year maximum while much more congestion would occur from a reduction of a lane. Go bike to work today, you might be able to do it but it’s miserable as hell and for what? to save half a gallon of gas?
If we want increased bike use we need higher core density within the city, we aren’t Amsterdam. Also, I would much rather see a lane be taken out for a light rail down Broadway. That might actually get some use.
I know, right!? This morning I biked to work and I was downright miserable! What, with the fresh air and exercise, I could hardly bear it. Being relaxed because I didn’t have to worry about someone pulling out in front of me and killing me was just…ugh. The whole time, all I could think was, “God, I wish was sitting in traffic.”
Down with the bike lanes.
The only time its not okay to ride is when its below 15 degrees, snowing, or when it is icy, which is only a handful of days out of the year. Not sure where your from, but being from Arizona I don’t even think this place is really cold that often. Its sunny almost every day!
No street that isn’t a freeway needs 4 traffic lanes and a bus lane. After 3 lanes additional lanes become less efficient due to increased crossover. 3 Will work just fine, plus there will now be a left turn lane where currently there is none. That alone could make Broadway more efficient since people turning left no longer have to stop traffic.
Also this is only to Speer, after that you can have your 4 glorious lanes. But I would argue that if you live far enough away. You should take the train/bus if you need to go downtown. Its really efficient, and you can read/write do work…
Anyone who thinks this idea is a bad one is not a true urbanist. As someone who has heavily researched cycle tracks, Broadway is the perfect candidate for having a traffic lane converted to a bike lane. Broadway is so wide that removing one lane of car traffic still leaves three car lanes and a bus lane! (Though hopefully that bus lane could eventually become a rail lane, streetcar or light-rail). Its really a win-win-win-win situation according to the renderings. Bicyclists get a two way protected lane, cars still get 3 lanes to drive in and two to park in, transit riders get a dedicated lane to speed commuting, and even pedestrians get an improved streetscape and buffer from the automobile traffic.
For those who think that removing a lane of traffic would further congest driving on Broadway, I would like to know what streets you currently drive on that have more than three lanes in one direction (that isn’t a freeway).
This idea is brilliant and should be implemented as soon as possible. After its resounding success, it can become a model for how to install successful cycle tracks in other locations around Denver. I, personally, can’t wait to see how this turns out!
Well said.
Well said, Tyler!
I will add that to those who keep saying Light Rail down Broadway, get realistic for a second, that is so far out of the equation at this time from a cost perspective. The Colfax light rail study concluded that it wasn’t worth the money (at this point).
Denver is doing some great things right now:
1. densifying the core
2. adding Pedestrian and bike infrastructure
3. expanding commuter rail
Meaningful intra-city mass transit (that is not busses) will happen, just not in the near-term. Getting more dense and weaning more and more people off single-occupancy car commuting will also help because those people will demand transit.I always find it ironic that the people who keep saying “Light Rail” are probably the most likely to continue to drive their cars. Look at the stats:
Adding bike lanes will compel even more people to bike. Real world example: I will bike all day long aroud downtown or down Broadway, but my wife would not feel safe doing so. With a bike lane, she would.
Interesting premise: Let’s say we did have some mass transit. If you car commute to work, well certainly you will be driving said car home, and maybe on the other errands that you do after work. If you take the bus or mass transit to work, maybe you bike home with a B cycle if the weather is great. You’re not locked into driving your single-occupancy vehicle. You have the full choice of modes.
Bike and Ped infrastructure works brilliantly with mass transit. Cars do not. Those of you who drive down Broadway, well, you’ll still be able to and probably won’t even tell a difference. For those who choose to use other modes, now we will have more choice and more safety in doing so. Everyone wins, The city wins.
So, the above debate shows how “urbanists” are of very different minds about what’s the best use of public space — streets, sidewalks, alleys and parks. Good to be arguing about who’s more deserving of public space, but doesn’t the broadest definition of urbanism include accommodating the whole spectrum of people and modes of transportation?
For example, where do families with children, schools, pocket parks, and big-box retail — like Target — fit into the usual “urbanism” comments we’re reading on this blog? Honestly, how accommodating are Downtown urbanists to the elderly, the disabled and the poor? Could so-called “multi-modal” Union Station be improved for pedestrians — the most common users — at chokepoints like the Millennium Bridge and the 18th Street elevated walkway to commuter tracks, with escalators? When DIA was designed 35 years ago, escalators were included as essential. Why a lower standard for pedestrians Downtown?
Millennials may be the current main driver of inner-city living and development, but a big city has to make room for all, and not just the able-bodied, who mostly rent. The higher earners are often older, more suburban, more likely to drive to work, and more likely to traverse the city in wheelchairs. That’s why we have ADA.
Motorists can be arrogant and intolerant, but so can pedestrians and bicyclists. Isn’t that what urban planning is all about?
I’ve already dreamed of this! This street has so much potentially given the funky business it houses and I’ve always found it such a shame (or just ridiculous really), that theres 5 super fast scary lanes of traffic on it.
With regards to the argument above, one major thing people are missing is cost. Maintaining bike lanes is MUCH cheaper than maintaining road lanes (because less damage occurs) or the operational cost of a street car. This plan will actually save money in the long run while realistically having a negligible impact on traffic. I don’t understand how car drivers get so upset at bike lanes when its guaranteeing we won’t be ‘getting in your way’, and 95% of streets are dedicated to cars, so I wouldn’t say the City caters to the minority.