Pedestrians, Cyclists, Drivers: Who Will Win on Campus?
Posted on 18. Feb, 2010 by Ben Waldman in Around Campus, Featured
Images courtesy of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration.
Infamous among first-year students for its suggestive name, High Street is perhaps more often remembered for its consistent congestion and clashes among its users. Drivers are spooked by the daredevil cyclist blowing through stop signs and weaving around cars. Others cannot help but feel irritated waiting behind a cyclist who is blocking the entire lane. Unsuspecting pedestrians walking down High Street also feel spooked after a cyclist, too nervous to ride in the street, blows past them on the sidewalk unexpectedly. And of course, the cyclist can not help but feel outraged after a driver, late to class, squeezes pass the cyclist on the narrow confines of High Street and nearly runs them into the curb.
Establishing High Street as a designated shared bike road would be the most affordable solution and would require very little infrastructure work. Under current Denver ordinances, every road must be shared with cyclists. However, drivers tend to pay more attention for cyclists and slow down when signage is used. A designated shared road requires both signage on the curb and shared road arrows (sharrows). Sharrows also give beginner cyclists increased confidence to ride on the street and return sidewalks back to their rightful owners, pedestrians. However, cyclists tend to occupy the entire lane on roads with sharrows which may be aggravating to drivers in a hurry. Still, bike advocacy groups argue that this practice is best for safety, making sure cyclists stay clear of parked vehicles’ door zone.
Another solution is creating designated bike lanes, which are very popular in Denver. Bike lanes provide separate space for cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians, usually leaving all parties happy. The largest obstacle to the creation of bike lanes is the already-narrow width of High Street. Emily Kreisa, the Denver Public Works Bicycle Program liason, explained that the current configuration of High Street would not accommodate bike lanes:
“The street would have to be closer to 38′ to fit bike lanes, and it is only 30′ curb-to-curb. To accommodate bike lanes, the parking lane would have to be removed. The City as a practice does not remove on-street parking unless the request comes from the adjacent property owners, neighborhood association, or council district.”
DU, along with other property owners along High St., would have to consent to the removal of parking before bike lanes would become a viable option.
Images courtesy of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration.
Creating designated bike paths on campus is another potential solution. Cyclist/pedestrian collisions are not a major issue on campus right now, but the newly established Bike Share program could draw less-confident riders to campus pathways. Currently, DU has no designated bike pathways and there is no policy regarding the use of bikes on campus.
The need for a safe north/south bike route across campus has become even more apparent after a recent automobile/cyclist at the Evans Ave. pedestrian crosswalk on Monday, February 15. According to a witness, a cyclist began crossing the Evans walkway when an automobile traveling Eastbound ran a red light. The automobile hit the cyclist and he was thrown from his bike, traveling approximately 20 feet. Denver Paramedics responded and the victim was taken away by ambulance. The Denver Police Department report was unavailable at the time of print.
Establishing High St. as a safe bike route would likely draw most north- and south-bound cyclist traffic away from campus pathways, leaving space for foot traffic. Iit is essential that we address the congestion on High Street. There are many viable options available, but it will take both the University and students pushing the city of Denver to do something about it.
Please post your idea or thoughts on how to relieve congestion on High St. and keep pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers around DU safe in the comment section below.
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