600/700 N bike lane redesign allows planners to "squint and envision the future"

The new bike lanes on 600/700 N in Rose Park are part of SLC Transportation's
vision to build a protected and separated bike network. Read how below.
(Photo: Tom Millar / SaltCycle.org)

Yesterday, crews striped part of a street redesign in Rose Park as part of this year's resurfacing schedule in that neighborhood. 600/700 N is a main east-west thoroughfare in the neighborhood and connects Rose Park with the Marmalade and Capitol Hill on the east and Redwood Road on the west. The road is still under construction and bicyclists should use caution on any sections of loose gravel. Bike symbols are yet to come, but soon.

As a part of the resurfacing, the road's new design (striped only from 800 W to 1200 W) features a quite normal-looking bike lane between the car travel lane and parking. Although the new surface and bright white paint might look normal, Becka Roolf, SLC Bike/Ped Coordinator, explained how the 600/700 N redesign allows for a possible future transition to a protected bikeway, pending future analysis and public input.


Roolf said, "We are currently seeking a design that makes things better for bikes but also leaves us open for future improvements such as a possible protected cycle track, depending on how 300 East works out, and on how traffic volumes on 600 N hold out after North Temple is open. There are a couple of possible design modifications in the future that would work with the stripes we are laying down now.

"SLC Transportation Division is trying to put in bike lanes with lane striping that could also be reconfigured for possible future cycle tracks," Roolf said. "We're trying to squint, and envision two or three possible future designs in the next 2 to 4 years. Right now the important thing is to reserve some space on the road for bicycles."

A protected bikeway network is the bicycle infrastructure of the best bicycling cities in the world, like Copenhagen and Amsterdam, to name a few. Salt Lake City has become one of the leaders in the United States for bikeway implementation and ridership, even if we don't have some of the protected and separated facilities that cities like Portland, New York, and Chicago have. However, this year is the start of the City's shift to offered safe, less stress, family-friendly bikeways, especially with the new 300 East Cycle Track project. The City's goal is to provide facilities, programs, and education so that more people feel safe going by bike.

Let us know what you think about this vision or email the City at bikeslc at slcgov dot com.

Enjoy some photos of the new bike lane, too!

Riding west on 600 N around 1000 W, looking at the right turn lane transition.
(Photo: Tom Millar / SaltCycle.org)

The bike lane felt comfortable and the new surface wasn't as rough as last year's.
Bike lane symbols and signs will be going in soon.
(Photo: Tom Millar / SaltCycle.org)

Here is where the new surface ends. It will be completed sometime this week, and
SLC Transportation Division tells us that they are currently
working out the last details of the design before it is painted.
(Photo: Tom Millar / SaltCycle.org)

This is riding eastbound on 600 N at about 1200 W.
(Photo: Tom Millar / SaltCycle.org)

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