TWO NEW PROTECTED BIKE LANES OPEN IN DOWNTOWN DENVER

Mayor Michael B. Hancock joined Denver City Councilman Albus Brooks,
the Downtown Denver Partnership, Denver Public Works and the American
Heart Association in celebrating the completion of two more protected bike
lanes downtown that make it easier for people to ride their bikes and reap
the health benefits.

The new bike lanes on Arapahoe and Lawrence Streets are each
approximately one mile long and use a row of parking to separate bicycle
and vehicle traffic. At three intersections, newly-installed concrete
platforms, known as “transit islands,” provide people with safe places to get
on and off buses.

“These new protected bike lanes exemplify what we set out to achieve in
our Strategic Transportation Plan, enhancing connections and providing
transportation choices that improve our community’s health and wellbeing,”
said Mayor Hancock. “Protected bike lanes are more comfortable and
attractive to people of all ages and riding abilities and support active living
and healthy lifestyles.”

District 9 Denver City Councilman Albus Brooks, who has been a strong
supporter of protected bike lanes in Downtown Denver, points to a recent
study that shows installing protected bike lanes leads to a bump in the
number of people riding bikes.

“Cities with protected bike lanes experience dramatic increases in ridership
along those facilities – an average increase of 75 percent in the first year
alone,” said District 9 Denver City Councilman Albus Brooks. “Our work to

make Denver sustainable means moving more people, more efficiently,

while building strong and healthy communities throughout our city.”

The bikeways were funded through a public-private partnership between
Denver Public Works and the Downtown Denver Partnership. To augment
City funding, the Partnership successfully secured contributions from the
Gates Family Foundation and the Downtown Denver Business
Improvement District, as well as initiated a crowd-funding campaign that
secured $36,085 from 200 individuals and companies, showcasing broad
community support for the project.

“6.5 percent of Downtown Denver commuters are riding their bikes to work,
and we are confident this number will grow with the addition of two miles of
protected bike lanes through the heart of our center city,” says Tami Door,
president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership. “We are
committed to building a bicycle city as part of our long-term strategy to
ensure that Downtown remains economically competitive by attracting the
next generation workforce and ensuring a safe and connected network of
bicycle infrastructure.”

Also participating in the celebration was the American Heart Association,
who is supporting Denver’s efforts to improve mobility as a way to improve
heart health and battle the nation’s number one killer –cardiovascular
disease.

“The Mayor’s overall mobility plan, including the new bike lanes in
Downtown Denver align directly with the American Heart Association’s
2020 Impact Goal to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by
20 percent while reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease and stroke
by 20 percent,” explains Dr. Peter Buttrick, Board President-Elect of the
American Heart Association. “The math is simple. The more we move,
the healthier we will be. We applaud Mayor Hancock for creating an
environment that supports active living and healthy hearts.”

The new protected bike lanes on Lawrence and Arapahoe Streets span
from the Auraria Campus to 24 Street and enhances connections
between Auraria Campus and adjacent neighborhoods to Downtown.
These are the first bike lanes in Denver to be protected with a row of
parking, which provides an additional buffer between bicycle and vehicle
traffic to enhance safety. Denver installed its first protected bike lane last
year on 15 Street downtown. The city now has three miles of protected
bike lanes and 124 miles of bike lanes citywide, supporting Denver’s 2020
Sustainability Goals for improving air quality, health and mobility.