Separated bike lanes coming to Lakewood

This is a great question. E-bikes, e-scooters, and any human-powered or electrical assisted small wheeled vehicle with an electric motor not exceeding 750 watts of power are all allowed to operate in any bicycle facility in Lakewood. On sidewalks, side paths, and shared use trails they must obey the path speed limit (usually 10-15mph) and yield to pedestrians and equestrians, but when they are operating in an on-street facility such as a separated bike lane they are currently legally allowed to operate at any speed below the posted speed limit of the roadway. E-bikes can have motor assistance up to 20-28mph depending on the model, so it is likely that e-bikes can operate near the same speed as vehicle traffic but unlikely that they are operating above the posted speed limit on most roads in Lakewood. Bicycles and e-bikes are also held to school zone restrictions, and police are able to ticket a person riding a bike or e-bike for speeding just as they would a driver.

When making a right hand turn on any street with a bike lane, it is important that drivers use their turn signal, thoroughly check their side/rear mirrors, and look over their right shoulder to ensure there are no approaching bicycles. I understand the hazard here; it is admittedly unusual and more difficult to check for incoming bicyclists that are moving twice as fast as most of us are used to, but unfortunately e-bikes are legally allowed to move that fast on the road. Ideally a person riding an e-bike who is approaching a car that is actively signaling to turn will proceed with caution in case they are not seen, but they are not required to yield to the driver or slow down. I recommend staying aware of any e-bikes you drive past, in case they catch up to you later on when you are trying to turn.

I apologize that I do not have a clear cut solution for your concern. E-bikes have many pros and cons, and one of the cons is that they can present several new safety hazards, especially when people riding them do not adhere to the rules and regulations of the road/trail. I am optimistic that as they become more common they will fit more seamlessly into our transportation system, but in the meantime there is a bit of a learning curve for all road users on how to interact with them.

If you would like more info on e-bikes and how they are regulated on Lakewood trails, you can visit Lakewood.org/Bicycling and navigate to the E-Bikes page for up-to-date information.

Thanks again for asking a great question and for your concern for the safety of all road users!

- Jenny

We appreciate your concern for the success of these various services and the safety of their employees. The companies that manage the services you mentioned are very skilled at adapting to a variety of route changes including any changes to the public right-of-way, so we do not expect any costs associated with the installation of the separated bike lanes to arise. Though mail routes may complicate other future separated bike lanes, the only segment of this particular project along a USPS route has a bike lane wide enough for the mail truck to travel in if necessary as well as an adjacent parking lane for the driver to park in should they have to walk to additional mail boxes (as is often the case in areas of higher density and is therefore a common expectation of their job). Trash collection has gone smoothly so far due to the residents kindly complying with the City’s request for bins to be placed at the inner edge of the bike lane instead of the curb, and other delivery services have not been impacted by the change since it was already illegal to park or stop a vehicle in a bike lane for any amount of time.

Even though we have not received notification of any disrupted services in the month since these lanes were installed, we will continue to monitor the success of this project and track any complaints or concerns about such operations if they arise so that we can address them in this and future designs.

– Jenny

I’m sorry to hear you don’t like the look of the new separated bike lane. Our intention was not to ruin the aesthetic of the parkway, but to improve the safety of a high-volume bicycling corridor by separating the bike lane from the roadway, keeping the lane exclusive to bicycling rather than functioning as a turning/acceleration lane, and calming traffic. Unfortunately the reflectors and posts are necessary to ensure no one collides with the curbs at night. We did choose low-profile white curbs instead of the taller black and yellow rubber curbing often seen in Denver in hopes of a better aesthetic, but we still had to meet safety standards.

We will be evaluating the success of the separated bike lane in the coming months, but right now there are no further plans to alter the installation. I hope that you forgive the addition to the roadway for its purpose as a safety feature and are still able to find joy in the trees and green spaces that contribute to the beauty of the corridor.

– Jenny

Due to the delays in completing this project and the unique nature of the parking-protected design (the first of its kind in Lakewood), we have been delaying police enforcement of parking infractions and giving only warnings until the lane is completed to give residents and their visitors a chance to understand and adapt to the intended design. The final phase of construction—installation of flexible posts in the buffer between the bike and parking lanes—is  expected to begin in the next 1-2 months, and once the lane is finally completed it will be much more difficult to park in the bike lane considering there will be a physical barrier present. For any remaining parking infractions, we will move beyond printed warnings to enforce compliance and ensure the bike lane can be used properly. We will also send another reminder to residents prior to construction that their trash bins must be placed in the buffer or in the parking lane or else their trash will not be picked up properly since garbage haulers will no longer be able to reach the curb.

Thank you for your concern and for your patience as we work to finally complete this project as a small but important piece of a safer Garrison Street!

– Jenny

Thank you for asking this important question! While 17th Ave to 20th Ave in particular poses a challenge since most of that area (including the north half of 17th Ave) is owned by Edgewater, we recognize that coordination between agencies is important in creating a connected bike network and are working to improve our process. Denver unfortunately does not typically include us in their bicycle planning process, but we will be referencing their proposed network and those of other neighboring municipalities as we update our citywide Bicycle Plan over the next year or so. Throughout that process we also have a goal of establishing and maintaining better two-way communication to ensure city boundaries don't results in so many dead ends and uncomfortable gaps in the future. If you haven't already, I would encourage you to check out our Bicycle Plan update page at LakewoodTogether.org/BikePlanUpdate and use our online mapping tool to alert us of any missing regional connections like this! 

- Jenny

That’s a great question. I personally ride on 1st Avenue often as part of my work commute and agree that a separated bike lane would be a significant improvement.

Lakewood transportation staff currently has a working list of possible corridors suitable for separated bike lanes—prioritized by many different factors, as you may have read on the project page—and 1st Avenue is on that list since it is an important connection between Lakewood and Denver and is currently not very welcoming to cyclists of all ages and abilities in its current design. However, there are a few challenges on 1st Avenue related to the lack of sidewalk along much of the corridor, the on-street parking east of Harlan St, and the general width of the road that could greatly increase the cost and complicate the design of separated lanes. Because of these complications and the associated cost it is not a corridor we are expecting to upgrade soon, but our prioritization process will be updated and hopefully solidified during the next Bicycle Master Plan update beginning this year, so that could change.

For more information about the upcoming bike plan update and ways to get involved, please keep an eye out for the project to be announced in late spring/early summer in the City’s Friday Report, social media sites, Lakewood Together, and the Bicycling page on Lakewood.org. One of the primary goals of the update is to integrate separated bike lanes into our proposed bicycle network citywide, and we would love to hear any additional insight you have during that process.

Thank you for your question and your interest in safe bicycling in Lakewood!

– Jenny

Thank you for your support. I’m glad to hear you appreciate the many benefits of bicycling as transportation! 

You are asking this question at a key time, because Lakewood is beginning an update of the Bicycle System Master Plan in 2024 and that update will involve several opportunities for public input on where future bike facilities—including separated bike lanes—should be built. We do not have an exact date for the update yet, but please keep an eye out for information and announcements on the City’s Friday Report, social media sites, Lakewood Together, and the Bicycling page on Lakewood.org. The process will likely begin in the spring, with public engagement throughout the summer and into 2025. 

In the meantime, you are always welcome to submit any suggestions, questions, or concerns about bicycling through Request Lakewood, our online customer service hub. I recommend using the topic area “Transportation: Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety,” but the system is very good at ensuring that all requests are routed to the appropriate division, which in this case is Transportation Engineering. 

We appreciate your interest and look forward to receiving your input on the future of bicycling in Lakewood.

– Jenny

Thank you for your support of the new parking-protected bike lane on South Garrison, we’re so glad to hear you feel safer with the new design. Submitting positive feedback as you have already done on this site or Request Lakewood is a great way to show your support. Possibly the best way to support any new or improved bike facility is just to ride your bike there as much as you can; since our primary goal in installing separated bike lanes is to encourage more residents to cycle, the greatest sign of success to fuel future similar projects is seeing that the facility is being well utilized—and you might even inspire more people to ride! 

We appreciate you using your bike to get around Lakewood, be safe out there and enjoy the ride.

– Jenny

Thank you for noticing this issue and bringing it to our attention. Lakewood transportation staff plans to distribute printed flyers to all residents along South Garrison between Jewell and Mississippi avenues before vertical barriers are installed to complete the facility, alerting them of the change and letting them know where garbage bins should be placed. We are also in the process of reaching out to garbage collection companies that serve the project corridor with the same information, to educate them and ensure that garbage trucks do not try to drive in the bike lane to pick up bins. Once the separated lane is completed we will do our best to monitor any issues and determine whether further education is necessary for either party as they get used to the change. 

— Jenny 

Thank you for your question. Funding for this project is coming primarily from a newly proposed line item in the City’s Annual Budget, expected to be approved in October, that is dedicated solely to the installation of separated bike lanes. Any bike lane striping during annual repaving (such as the striping that took place on South Garrison Street in July) is funded by the City’s general traffic safety budget.

Lakewood transportation staff may pursue additional funding from grants and other programs in the future, but there are not currently any non-governmental organizations partnering with the City on this project.

— Jenny