(COLORADO SPRINGS) — New changes are coming to traffic in downtown Colorado Springs–the city hopes to add bike lanes along Cascade Avenue, and officials say it’s not just convenient for bikes and scooters.
Whether it’s for exercise or environmental reasons, Downtown Colorado Springs is known for being a bicycle-friendly part of town, and while city officials say the bike lane extension may add a few seconds to your commute, the heart of the city will be safer for all.
“So right now the bike lane on Cascade comes south to Colorado Avenue, which is great, but then at Colorado Avenue, it dies,” said Jill Gaebler, an advocate for the new bike lanes.
In addition, city workers will restripe South Cascade Avenue between Colorado Avenue and West Fountain Boulevard.
“It reduces crashes, slightly slower speeds that may delay you a few extra seconds of travel time, but just creating a safer environment for all users,” said Todd Frisbie, Colorado Springs City Traffic Engineer.
Currently the area has four traffic lanes, the new project will use one lane from each side of traffic to create the new bikes lanes.
“Any time you can slow traffic just a little bit, you’re going to get an improved level of safety even for your drivers, and for pedestrians that are walking and crossing the street,” added Frisbie.
However, some are concerned about an increase in downtown traffic, but officials say it will only add a few seconds to your drive time.
“The impact on travel time on the public in vehicles is going to be minimal,” he said.
The city said the extension will ultimately create safer connections to numerous local community trails and attractions.
“My husband and I ride to Switchback games, so that we can avoid paying for car fees, parking fees, and to have that extra two blocks, turn on Vermijo, get to the Switchback game and get to that game safely, is highly important to me, and I’m very excited about the implementation of this bike lane,” said Gaebler.
With the downtown population increasing, it’s no secret that parking has grown to be an issue. More people are using bikes and scooters to avoid parking, and many who are driving are not using parking garages.
“Why don’t we utilize them more, and save our roads for cars that are driving and pedestrians and bikes? That would be a much better use for our roads. That really helps everyone in downtown,” added Gaebler.
For more information on the project, click on this link.
A similar project was completed on North Cascade a few years ago, which city leaders say led to significant safety improvements.
