Bicycle boulevard

Bicycle boulevard on 14th Street in Albuquerque, New Mexico

A bicycle boulevard is a low speed street which has been "optimized" for bicycle traffic. Bicycle boulevards discourage cut-through motor-vehicle traffic but allow local motor-vehicle traffic. They are designed to give priority to bicyclists as through-going traffic. They are intended to improve bicyclist comfort and/or safety.

Bicycle boulevards attempt to achieve several goals:

• discouragement of non-local motor vehicle traffic;
• low speed limits;
• low motor-vehicle traffic volumes;
• free-flow travel for bikes by assigning the right-of-way to the bicycle boulevard at intersections wherever possible;
• traffic control to help bicycles cross major arterial roads; and
• a distinctive look and/or ambiance such that cyclists become aware of the existence of the bike boulevard and motorists are alerted that the street is a priority route for bicyclists.

These bikeway design elements are intended to appeal to casual, risk-averse, inexperienced and younger bicyclists who would not otherwise be willing to cycle with motor vehicle traffic. Compared to a bike path or rail trail, a bicycle boulevard is also a relatively low-cost approach to appealing to a broader cycling demographic.

Features

Bicycle boulevards use a variety of traffic calming elements to achieve a safe environment. For instance, diverters with bicycle cut-outs at mid-block allow motorists to enter the block in order to park or otherwise access a property, and allow cyclists to continue to the next block as well, but do not allow motorists to continue. Typically, these modifications are thought to calm traffic and improve pedestrian safety as well as encouraging bicycling.

Bicycle boulevards often have higher road surface standards than other residential streets, and encourage riders to use the full lane, encouraging parity between bicycles and motor vehicles.

Locations

United States

Bicycle boulevards can be found in the United States, including:

• Arizona: Tucson
• California: Palo Alto, Berkeley, Emeryville, San Luis Obispo, Long Beach
• Minnesota: Minneapolis
• North Carolina: Wilmington
• Oregon: Portland and Eugene
• New Mexico: Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Washington: Seattle, Washington
• Wisconsin: Madison, Wisconsin

Palo Alto established the first Bicycle Boulevard (audio/visual tour HERE) in the Nation. It was named for Ellen Fletcher, a Holocaust survivor and one of America's first bike activists. In a podcast you can listen to here she talks about how the Bike Blvd got named after her as well some of the work she did in Palo Alto that helped it become known as one the top bike cities in the Nation.

In Berkeley, boulevards are mostly residential streets, however some sections pass through commercial areas. Generally there are few cars on these streets, in large part because of the pre-existing traffic calming devices that slow and/or divert traffic. Bicycle boulevards may or may not have bicycle lanes.

In Minneapolis, a grant from the federal government within the Non-Motorized Pilot Program has helped to build a bike boulevard on Bryant Avenue, and the planning of others.

In Wilmington, help from a Fit Community 2009 grant through the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund enabled the City of Wilmington to construct North Carolina’s first bicycle boulevard. The Ann Street Bicycle Boulevard [1] runs from South Water Street to South 15th Street and serves as part of the much longer River to the Sea Bikeway [2], which connects downtown Wilmington to Wrightsville Beach.

In Portland, a $600 million plan for the years 2010-2030 has the goal of making 25 percent of trips in the city be by bicycle through the establishment of 700 miles (1,100 km) of new bikeways; one of the projects within the plan is to combine the work on street features that reduce stormwater runoff with the construction of curb extensions and other components of bicycle boulevards.

In Albuquerque, a city with over 400 miles of on-street bicycle facilities and multi-use trails, the grand opening of the first bicycle boulevard in the state of New Mexico was held on April 14, 2009. The bicycle boulevard runs from San Mateo Blvd SE, west along Silver Ave SE/SW to 14th St SW. It then continues north on 14th St to Mountain Rd NW. The last leg of the boulevard continues west on Mountain Rd NW to the Paseo del Bosque Recreation Trail which parallels the Rio Grande River.

In Madison almost every major artery has a Bike Lane in which bicycles have a protected place to bike in the street. The first full bicycle boulevard spans East Mifflin Street in Madisons Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood, a second spans the entire length of Kendall Avenue in University Heights and the Regent Neighborhood.

Outside of the United States

Bicycle boulevards can be found in Vancouver, British Columbia and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

In Amsterdam, around 40% of journeys are by bicycle, and planners at the Directorate Infrastructure Traffic and Transport have adopted a bicycle policy that blends segregated bicycle lanes with in-traffic, "bicycle boulevard-style" cycling. The general rule is that cyclists can integrate safely with traffic traveling at or below 30 km/h (19 mph), but that segregated bike lanes should be installed along roads with a higher speed limit. With these policies in place, Amsterdam remains one of the more active cycling cities in the world.

In the Netherlands, bicycle boulevards are referred to as cycle streets, although it can be argued that with the widespread traffic calming in Dutch cities, many more Dutch streets would fall under the American definition of "bicycle boulevards." Bicycle boulevards in the Netherlands can even link cycletracks, service roads, and other types of street configuration to complete a route. Extensive amount of information has been written on these facilities at the Pedal Portland blog and the Northeastern University webpage.

Naming Conventions

The City of Berkeley, California, is credited with coining the phrase "Bicycle Boulevard" in the late 1980s, but not every jurisdiction has adopted this term. As of November 2011, the City of Boston has decided to use the term "Neighborways" instead of Bicycle Boulevards. This just adds to a growing list of terms for Bicycle Boulevards since Portland has been calling them "Neighborhood Greenways" and Seattle has named them simply "Greenways."

Other commonly used terminology for bicycle boulevards includes:

Bike Boulevards
Quiet Streets
Neighborhood Byways
Bicycle Friendly Streets
Bicycle Friendly Corridors
Bicycle Parkway
Neighborhood Parkway

The Office québécois de la langue française has proposed replacing the expression "vélo boulevard" with "itinéraire cyclable partagé" (shared bike route)..

See also

• Utility cycling
• Bike route
• Motorcycle lane

External links

• Fundamentals of Bicycle Boulevard Planning & Design
• Portland’s Bike Boulevards Become Neighborhood Greenways by Streetfilms
• Berkeley’s Bike Boulevards by Streetfilms
• Car free lifestyle choices at Curlie