Fort Collins' Platinum Bike Plan

Great list! Thanks for sharing!

2012-03-08T14:06:20.902-08:00

Great list! Thanks for sharing!

Not allowing electric assisted bikes on the trail ...

2012-01-02T06:47:21.229-08:00

Not allowing electric assisted bikes on the trail system is a very bad decision!

>Note how the bike lanes disappear >so that ...

2011-12-07T14:28:52.367-08:00

>Note how the bike lanes disappear >so that cyclists are forced to >decide either to take the lane as >a motorist or to go onto the >sidewalk as a pedestrian.

Dear Rick,

The bike lane treatment at the Vine and Taft roundabout is standard for such an intersection design, and has been found (in Europe) to be safer than a continuous bike lane.

A cyclist is "forced" to decide whether they want to traverse the crossing as a pedestrian or as a vehicle, as these are the two safest ways to negotiate the crossing.

A modern roundabout is designed to operate at 15-20mph, and that roundabout is no exception. Consequently, cyclists are supposed to either merge into the flow of traffic, which is moving at a reasonable speed for cyclists, or to dismount and pass the roundabout as a pedestrian using the crosswalks.

A cyclist in this case has the choice between acting as a vehicle (not a motor vehicle) or as a pedestrian.

Other treatments (a continuous outer bike lane, for example) have been tried and were found to be more likely to cause crossing conflicts.

The German roundabout design historically included this outer lane, and it was later found that cyclists were safer when they merged into the roundabout circulator, rather than having to negotiate both merging and diverging traffic as it crossed their path.

Best Regards,

Will
William M. deRosset, PE
Fort Collins, CO
LCI 1320

Although, I agree that the truck driver appears to...

2011-11-10T16:12:06.549-08:00

Although, I agree that the truck driver appears to be incompetent, I think that being visible meant to be in the road. If the cyclist were to have been in the road and taken the lane (this is a very tight intersection), she would have been extremely visible on the roadway and odds are the driver would have had to have waited until she crossed the road before he even entered the intersection.

I really don't think the takeaway from this st...

2011-11-08T08:28:03.550-08:00

I really don't think the takeaway from this story should be that cyclists/pedestrians should always take care to be hyper visible. I doubt that the truck driver would have seen the cyclist even if she had been lit up like a Christmas tree. The *curb* that he had to run over to get to her didn't even stop him.

I am totally blown away by the time and journalist...

2011-04-01T20:45:59.976-07:00

I am totally blown away by the time and journalistic craftsmanship this blog posting represents. This is what the new media should be about.

I'm still a little confused about what the City ought to be doing for bicycling that it is not already doing.

Therein lies the promise for the highly politicized bicycle advocacy folks to begin looking into what we need in the way of solid waste diversion, electric utility regulation reforms, transit options and many other possibilities that Fort Collins has for making our city a little less unsustainable.

The City Clerk maintains a page that has all of the candidates websites listed.

http://www.fcgov.com/cityclerk/candidates-apr2011.php#mayor

Thanks to David Boerner for his journalism.

You know, I've been to my place of worship thi...

2011-02-27T15:48:23.877-08:00

You know, I've been to my place of worship this week, so no, I don't think I need to make a public profession of guilt.
The pledge (more responsible bicyclist, better respect the right of other road users, better follow the law) doesn't apply to me. Sorry, but I'm a mature, respectful cyclist and have been for a few decades now.

The CMAQ committee has ranked this and other FCBik...

2011-02-24T14:05:20.165-08:00

The CMAQ committee has ranked this and other FCBikes CMAQ proposals below the funding line. So dig deep . . . we may have to go to plan B for a long term, sustainable bike share program in the Fort.

It will take more than an efficient bike share pro...

2011-02-21T06:13:20.157-08:00

It will take more than an efficient bike share program to achieve platinum. But a bike share program that links to our transit system, parking garages and major centers (Old Town, CSU, Hilton, Marriott) AND a viable bike safety education plan would move us close to platinum.

Re: Bike sharing in the USA see http://kakoluri.co...

2011-02-21T05:34:35.810-08:00

Re: Bike sharing in the USA see
http://kakoluri.com/?p=1512
only three bikes in MN were stolen, two vandalized and there were no injuries
over a one year period.
Do you think a real bike library here in the Choice city will speed us on our way to LAB platinum recognition?

Well said! I think such an informational video wou...

2011-02-09T23:42:02.442-08:00

Well said! I think such an informational video would really help elevate cycling-safety awareness within our police force!

Well said! I think that developing such a video (o...

2011-02-09T23:41:12.315-08:00

Well said! I think that developing such a video (or using someone else's) along with related training would be incredibly useful in elevate cycling safety awareness in our police force!

Indeed, a little improvement in our bike share pro...

2011-02-09T05:00:29.558-08:00

Indeed, a little improvement in our bike share program would go a long way - like integrating it into our transit system, linking our parking garages, and engaging private enterprise - like a few hotels and bike shops.

I agree Chicago (I moved here from there 'cuz ...

2011-01-30T11:21:11.430-08:00

I agree Chicago (I moved here from there 'cuz the Fort is way mo better), Austin, (they didn't like Rio margs, we do), Des Moines (someplace I waved at when I drove out here) Hawaii (which island are we talking here?) and Louisville (Easton makes both ball bats AND cool bike forks somewhere else) need to be congratulated for adopting the B-Cycle packaged bike sharing system. We aren't Boulder, thank heaven.

Where is Minneapolis MN, Portland OR, Madison WI, Davis CA, or others that consistently rank at the top (and make this author's list of good examples) of cycling meccas? Fort Collins is the envy of many other cities for many reasons, and a lot of effort was and still is put into our Bike Library. We didn't settle for run of the mill beer, nor a canned bike sharing program. I vote for improving our "one off" rather than tearing it down or pursuing some agenda of negativity.

For those tuning in after the election - we passed...

2010-11-13T19:51:14.175-08:00

For those tuning in after the election - we passed ordinance 2B. Hoorayyyyyyyyy!

I reckon that the cost of building a completely se...

2010-11-11T10:37:53.131-08:00

I reckon that the cost of building a completely separate transportation system for bikes would be unaffordable and, I think, has already been rejected by Plan Fort Collins in their long range Master Transportation Plan. But a combination of education across the board (kids, parents, CSU students, motorists, businesses, law enforcement,etc.) and innovative engineering efforts (bike lanes, cycle tracks, bike boulevards, and so on) my take us to 25% mode share for bikes. I'd like to see that by 2015.

Now vehicular cycling is a good start and is prefe...

2010-11-10T21:38:50.511-08:00

Now vehicular cycling is a good start and is preferable to sidewalk cycling now, but no place will ever get the 60% mode split of Groniegen, the 40% cycling rate of Assen, the 22% cycling rate of Copenhagen by actively promoting vehicular cycling in all cases.

People just do not feel comfortable sharing Shields or Harmony with traffic. You are not going to get interested-but-concerned by just showing them the video and saying "Good Luck." Even the current bike lane next to 50mph traffic scares most people away.

Whats needed is a comprehensive networks of cycle tracks and segregated bike lanes like Holland and Denmark have been installing for the last 50+ years. A network that people feel safe to cycle on.

If this site is truly interested in having Fort Collins be bestowed with the platinum label, then we need to move forward from policies that have failed us.

While driving we often have occasion to turn right...

2010-11-01T08:50:44.682-07:00

While driving we often have occasion to turn right from (westbound) Drake on to Timberline and also from (eastbound) Harmony on to Corbett. In both instances there is a wide bike lane designated by a solid white line with no dashes to indicate a place for vehicles to cross and there are not turn arrows on the pavement. We are reluctant to cross the solid white lane and have chosen to turn from the vehicle travel lanes at both locations. We find that most others do the same, more so at the Harmony intersection which is much faster paced than at Drake where about half the folks seem to use the bike lane. This can be especially confusing when drivers in traffic are signaling a right turn and others attempt to pass on the inside to turn from the bike lane. Yikes!
It would help to have the white lines 'dashed' for all vehicle merge points at a distance from the curb that is appropriate for the speed limit. Turn arrows and a symbol for bike/vehicle merge painted on the pavement and/or a merge sign would also be helpful. Todd Spiller

I'd suggest a station at CSU's new parking...

2010-10-16T06:14:42.615-07:00

I'd suggest a station at CSU's new parking garage across from the Hilton. That way it can be used by guests at the Hilton as well.

I dig scramble crossings. They had them all over ...

2010-04-25T04:28:21.466-07:00

I dig scramble crossings. They had them all over Auckland, NZ and it was really neat to see pedestrians and bikes take over the intersection for 1 phase, then cars do their thing for the remaining phases.

2010-04-17T06:27:33.196-07:00

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2010-03-16T03:10:09.024-07:00

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Thank you very much for the link! Very interesting...

2010-02-21T08:02:24.760-08:00

Thank you very much for the link! Very interesting :)

This is an exciting review! -Ted, Sydney, NSW.

2010-01-05T17:38:44.347-08:00

This is an exciting review!
-Ted, Sydney, NSW.

It was really a very informative post. Thanks a lo...

2009-12-19T10:52:17.838-08:00

It was really a very informative post. Thanks a lot.
Bathmate