
A look back at 2018
Happy New Year from all of us at Bike Colorado Springs. 2018 was very productive and exciting in regards to bicycle friendliness and connectivity in our City. So much of the credit for that progress goes to you, supporters of a safer, more bike friendly Colorado Springs! The work that you, the city and BCS have done has earned Colorado Springs the 28th spot on Bicycling Magazine’s top 50 Bicycling Cities. One of our focuses at BCS is to show that riding bikes isn’t only for an elite group of athletes. Riding bikes is for everyone, whether you do it for health, environmentalism, recreation, commuting, necessity or all of the above. We have a lot planed for 2019 and we will need your help.
We will be asking for your support when we need some bike friends to write and email City Council or show up for a City meeting. Most importantly we hope to see you out riding; utilizing our extensive network of urban trails and bike lanes. Be sure to join us on our community rides and pedal alongside BCS volunteers and supporters celebrating new bike lanes, trails and connections as they are unveiled throughout the region.
Stay tuned to our website and social media as we will soon be posting about the new programs and infrastructure that is planned for this year. Like we said above, our supporters are what is moving bicycling forward throughout our region, in 2019 we are going to engage with you in new ways that we haven’t in the past. We will be asking for your help and hopefully helping you as we improve bicycling access, connectivity, and safety throughout Colorado Springs and surrounding communities. Below we highlight just some of the things that happened during 2018 to make riding a bicycle easier for all of our citizens.
Plans and Programs
Building a Bicycle friendly city is more than just infrastructure, it’s about supporting programs and plans that reinforce bicycling as a safe way to get around or form of recreation. 2018 was a formative year for these programs, laying a foundation which a bike friendly city can grow upon. The year kicked off with City Council Unanimously adopting COS Bikes! . This new Bicycle Master Plan will guide the city in the goal of “creating a more inviting environment so that biking is an enjoyable, dependable, and safe travel option for everyone.”
June, otherwise known as Bike Month, was a big month for bicycles in Colorado Springs, Bike to Work Day had the largest participation ever seen in the city. June also marked the launch of PikeRide, a bike share program with a 208 bikes implemented throughout Downtown Colorado Springs and surrounding neighborhoods. Earth Day marked the inaugural Motorless Morning in Garden of the Gods allowing hikers and cyclists to experience our unique city park’s natural beauty of without automobiles.
This year also marked the launch of a pilot wayfinding signage program to help bicyclists safely navigate throughout the city. We closed out the year with our statewide advocacy organization, Bicycle Colorado, leading two Bicycle Friendly Driver classes which teach drivers the best ways to share the road with people on bicycles.
On Street infrastructure
While infrastructure alone cannot build a bicycle friendly community, having safe connections goes a long way by allowing people who haven’t previously, feel comfortable pedaling to their destination. Throughout 2018 a more complete, connected network of bicycle infrastructure took shape in the core of our city. Pikes Peak ave, Cascade ave, and Fontanero St were all reconfigured this year providing the first interconnected network of bicycle infrastructure that Colorado Springs has seen.
Cascade Ave – This is the first safe, continuous, on-street route into, and through downtown from the north.
Pikes Peak Ave – This combination of buffered and parking protected bike lanes links the legacy loop by creating a safer connection from the Shooks Run trail to the Pikes Peak Greenway
Fontanero St – This much needed east-west connection through the Old North End Neighborhood safely connects the legacy loop while providing safer access to community destinations
Walnut St – A neighborhood requested traffic calming project just west of Downtown, was also completed this fall providing a critical bicycle connection to Bijou St into Downtown, The Midland Trail and Pikes Peak Ave (a designated bike route).
This on-street infrastructure allows for safe connections from our extensive trail network to destinations throughout our community making our city safer and more user friendly for all modes of transportation.
Trail Improvements
On-street bike infrastructure is often contentious and well publicized but 2018 also proved transformative for Urban Trails throughout our city. A key connection under Uintah Ave allows trail user to connect the trail west of Monument Creek easing access to the Legacy Plaza and the Popcycle Bridge. Further west the Foothills trail a critical north-south trail through Garden of the gods Park paved it’s complete length and rerouted around the GoG Parking lot. Additionally the Gateway trail, headed west into the park was also rerouted and paved allowing for easier access into one of our city’s most unique parks.