https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMq3w7RVnvc
ARTICLE LINK: http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_28278276/differing-views-boulders-right-sizing-plan-come-fore
EXTRA WIDE BIKE LANES FOR BOULDER
Boulder has passed what is called the "Right Sizing" proposal, which will increase the size of bike lanes along the cities heavily used biking roads to increase ridership and improve safety. They are doing this by reducing lane widths using re-striping to widen the bicycling lanes. This is a great initiative in creating a more alternative modal transportation culture in there city. Boulder is already a heavily biked city when weather permits and by increasing the widths of bike lanes capacity is added as well as it creating additional buffer to make cyclists feel more protected from traffic. This is a very political issue though as it requires lowering the capacity of the roadway due to the decrease in lane widths for automobiles. There is a big opposition that did not want this proposal to pass because cycling is still not seen as a mode of daily transport to many people. One women mention in the story commented "My nerves are shot every time I
get on the road, I see drivers who go across into
the bike lane. I see drivers taking way too many risks around me, and
it scares the heck out of me every time I'm on my bike. But I want to be
on my bike.", I believe there are many people like this women that have the desire to change there habits but don't feel comfortable with the current facilities provided in there city. AASHTO allows for lanes to be decreased to 10' wide, and studies have show that this does not increase the number of crashes nor delay for urban arterial's. I believe this is a positive step for giving users a choice of mode, what do you think?
I agree with you that this is a step in the right direction in terms of leveling the playing field for non-car drivers. In many cities, pedestrians and cyclists are considered lesser than cars, and the manner that funding is allocated mirrors that. I also found it interesting that even in Boulder, a city with many cyclists and existing bike infrastructure, there is a strong wave of opposition to increasing the width of bike lanes while sacrificing traffic capacity.
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