“Brand Spankin' New Bikeways Ride” Offers Tour of City’s Cycling System

From the office of the Mayor,

New bike lane / sharrow design on 1700 South
is one of the many bikeway improvements
made by the City this year

SALT LAKE CITY – To celebrate this year’s addition of over 50 miles of new and redesigned bikeways to Salt Lake City’s cycling system, SLC Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator Becka Roolf will give a two-hour public tour of the newly completed projects on Saturday, September 17, 2011, at 11 am starting from the northeast corner of Liberty Park. The “Brand Spankin' New Bikeways Ride” will be hosted by Salt Lake City and SaltCycle.com, a local blog about bicycling and bicycle facilities.

Salt Lake City’s on-road bicycle network has continued to grow in 2011, with 23 lane miles of new bikeways and 10 lane miles of redesigned  bikeways incorporated in the system. An additional 20 lane miles are planned to be activated before the end of the year. The increase in on-road bikeways reflects Mayor Ralph Becker’s commitment to improving bicycle facilities in Salt Lake City.

 “Bikeways in Salt Lake City and across the country are undergoing a rapid evolution in design,” Roolf said.  “In addition to allocating bike lanes, we are now designating shared lanes and also seeking to have more ‘low-stress’ bikeways with bicyclists separated from moving traffic by planters, plastic delineator posts or parked cars."

In addition to showing off the new routes, Roolf will discuss design considerations and the public input process for the projects. Roolf welcomes comments from residents and is hoping the tour will provide an opportunity for citizen input that can be incorporated in future bikeway projects.

Pending design and public input, Salt Lake City hopes to install its first parking-buffered bike lanes in 2012. Still in the works for 2011 are shared lane markings on several streets, including 800 East, 500 East and South Temple.

Shared lane markings are bicycle symbols painted on the road without a separate bike lane.  Shared lane markings – sometimes known as “sharrows” – are similar to markings used in the downtown area, along with wide green stripes.  Motorists use the lane as normal, but the bicycle symbols serve as a reminder that bicyclists may also use the lane and may, in fact,ride down the center of the lane.

Shared lane markings do not change the existing laws or rules of the road.  Under Utah state law, bicyclists have a legal right to ride on the road and are responsible to follow all of the same traffic laws for motorists.

Please RSVP via facebook or come to the Bikeways Tour this Saturday (tomorrow) at 11 AM. Meet at the Northeast corner of Liberty Park @ 900 S & 700 E.

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