Safer Roads Southeast
The City of Colorado Springs is proposing improvements to transportation and neighborhood vitality along portions of Chelton Road, Jet Wing Drive and Hancock Expressway. These roads have been identified in the City Bike Master Plan as key bicycle corridors, and the City has studied how bicycle infrastructure might be added to provide bicycle connections and improve safety by providing dedicated space for people on foot, on bikes and in cars.
SE Bike Master Plan Vision Network Map – Click image for interactive map
Between 2016 and 2018 the City completed a citywide Bike Master Plan, which involved extensive public engagement. One element of the plan was a vision network (Link to Interactive Vision Network Map) of existing and future bicycle infrastructure. When built out, this network would provide basic connectivity across the city. The Master Plan identified locations for infrastructure but did not specify what that infrastructure would look like or when it would be built. The segments under question were all identified in that future network.
Link to city’s – Safer Roads Southeast Website
Lend your voice
Provide your input to the proposals
Free digital Public Meetings
6 – 7 p.m Tuesday June 30 – Meeting Link
6 – 7 p.m Tuesday July 14 – scheduled
Proposal Information
Existing Chelton bike lane
Investment in Southeast Colorado Springs will provide a safe and healthy connections for kids & families, Safer trail crossings and safer access to the Sand Creek trail
People focused streets provide predictability for all people, regardless of how they choose to get around, and safer transportation options for all.
Expanding the bike lanes currently on Chelton Road (from Bijou Street to Mallard Drive) south to Jet Wing Drive, and/or between Jet Wing Drive and Hancock Expressway;
Expanding the bike lanes currently on Jet Wing Drive (from Wernimont Circle to Hancock Expressway), south to Academy Boulevard; and
Creating bike lanes on Hancock Expressway from Chelton Road to Resnick Drive.
How this would happen
These improvements would occur by reconfiguring the space in the right-of-way, changing the roadways from two travel lanes in each direction and a center turn lane; to one travel-lane in each direction and a center turn lane. This roadway configuration is already in place on Chelton Road, north of Mallard and on Jet Wing Drive, north of the Hancock Expressway.
3-lane roadways such as this project proposes generally result in slower speeds and crashes that are less severe, resulting in a more neighborly feel. 3-lane roads are easier to cross and act as less of a barrier in our neighborhoods than 5-lane roads.
By creating dedicated space for pedestrians, people on bikes and people in cars, the entire corridor will provide a safer and more predictable trip regardless of how you choose to get around. The added buffer between vehicles and bikes provides an additional margin for error for all roadway users.
The proposed bike lanes would provide much needed connections for people on bikes to:
Schools, including Carmel and Panorama Middle Schools
Shopping areas, including the Academy Boulevard commercial corridor
Places to recreate, including the SkyView and Leon Young Sports Complexes, the Sand Creek Library, and the Boys & Girls Clubs
The Sand Creek Trail
Panorama Park
Workplaces
Medical facilities
Public Transportation
Places of worship
