Denver Moves: Bikes Update

Recordings of past public meetings for this project can be found on the project website: bit.ly/denvermovesbikes.

To contact the project team please email DenverMovesBikes@gmail.com or call (720) 865-9378 (English & Español).

Phase II of this project entails processing the community input that was received in phase I and combining this input with additional data including traffic volumes, vehicle speeds, and crash history, in order to begin making changes to the proposed bike network. The community will be able to give their input on these draft network changes in the Summer of 2024.

Cities of similar size including Seattle, WA; Boston, MA; Austin, TX; Minneapolis, MN; Albuquerque, NM; and more have adopted citywide bicycle plans like Denver Moves: Bikes. For more information on bicycle planning efforts nationwide, the League of American Bicyclists (bikeleague.org) tracks state, community, university, and business efforts to encourage cycling through their Bicycle Friendly America Program. There are currently 506 Bicycle Friendly Communities nationwide, ranging from Platinum to Bronze. Denver is rated Silver.

This project’s goals are directly tied to the goals of Denver’s citywide strategic transportation plan Denver Moves Everyone. Safety is one of the five main goals of both plans. Denver Moves: Bikes will analyze crash history across the city to inform improvements to the proposed bike network that will improve safety for all roadway users. We will also analyze locations with high crash risk – this takes into account locations where crashes have not occurred yet, but the conditions are such that improvements could reduce risk of crashes occurring. The final version of this plan will have specific metrics on reducing crashes that the city will strive to achieve by 2050, particularly for crashes involving people walking and biking.

The community input we receive through the survey, online map, emails, and meetings with community members is one of the main sources of data the project team will use to make changes to the proposed bikeway network and identify existing bikeways to upgrade. Both unique comments as well as up and down votes on these comments will be weighed to identify needed network changes. In addition to community input the project team will used data such as traffic volumes, vehicle speeds, crash history, and more to decide on the locations for future bikeways, identify the appropriate type of bikeway for each roadway, and identify bikeways in need of upgrades.

There may be two reasons you did not see your comment posted on the map right away. The first is that the platform we use utilizes auto-moderation for certain language detected in a post or for any comments posted with images attached. We regularly go through and approve these auto-moderated comments so they should appear on the map within a week or two of posting if they have been auto moderated.

The second reason you may have seen a comment disappear from the map is that we received such an outpouring of community feedback on the online map immediately after it launched that the number of comments exceeded the default “max loading” of comments that would appear on the map platform. Since then, we have rectified the issue so that all comments appear on the map. Your comment has been recorded and should now be visible.

Yes. We are coordinating with many different partner organizations across the city to spread the word about the project, help us reach community members, and to seek input from relevant organizations themselves. We’ve been coordinating directly with staff from Denver Parks and Recreation, Denver Community Planning & Development, the Denver Streets Partnership, Bicycle Colorado, VAMOS, and many more.

For the past several years, DOTI has been building bikeways through the Community Transportation Network (CTN) program. This program is rapidly expanding the buildout of small, complete networks in Denver by focusing on specific neighborhoods. Central Denver, Northwest Denver, and South Central Denver networks have all been planned and designed. DOTI constructed more than 50 miles of bikeways in 2023 through the CTN program and will build many more in the coming years.

The Denver Moves: Bikes Update project will help DOTI develop some new features of its bike program, including a program to upgrade existing bikeways to align with DOTI’s new bikeway standards.

This project’s goals are directly tied to the five goals of Denver’s citywide strategic transportation plan Denver Moves: Everyone – Equity, Mobility, Safety, Sustainability, Community, and Quality. DOTI is dedicated to improving safety for people walking, rolling, and biking via all of its planning efforts. Denver Moves: Pedestrians & Trails details specific projects and programs to improve pedestrian facilities.

While this plan focuses on improving the citywide bike network, bikeway improvements offer safety benefits for people walking and rolling as well. Developing new trails and shared use paths and upgrading existing ones through widening or pavement maintenance is mutually beneficial for people walking, rolling, and biking. Moreover, creating new bikeways and installing traffic calming infrastructure has added benefits for people walking and rolling. They provide an additional horizontal and vertical buffer between sidewalks and vehicle traffic, which often enhances pedestrian comfort. Traffic calming treatments like mini roundabouts and curb extensions encourage safer speeds in neighborhoods – especially at intersections – and improve visibility of people walking and rolling while shortening crossing distances.

Yes, pedestrian safety and comfort, as well as reducing conflicts for all modes of travel, will be a major consideration of any intersection improvements that are recommended in this plan. However, this plan is a longer-term, citywide plan focused on developing a roadmap for DOTI’s bicycle program and most intersection recommendations will remain higher-level in this plan. DOTI’s Vision Zero program and the pedestrian intersection program also specifically identify and install intersection improvement projects. These projects are selected from robust data analysis to identify high crash locations and locations with high crash risk factors.

This project will not, however, Ballot Measure 307, which passed last year, will support construction of a complete sidewalk network in Denver. You can learn more about Ballot Measure 307 here: https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Department-of-Transportation-and-Infrastructure/Programs-Services/Pedestrians/Sidewalks