Taking Stock of Protected Bikeways 10 Years Later
From CalBike.org
by
Before the Protected Bikeways Act
Before our bill was signed into law, Caltrans design standards didn’t allow bike lanes separated by bollards, curbs, planters, or other barriers, even though other states were implementing protected bike lanes and NACTO had issued design guidance.
Class I bikeways are physically separated from traffic, but these are off-street paths. While Class I bikeways are low-stress and appealing to many riders, they can be hard to construct due to high costs and space limitations.
Class IV bikeways, on the other hand, can be added during roadway repaving projects and don’t require the acquisition of off-road rights of way, though there may still be issues with repurposing road space from driving or parking to active transportation. California had a few of these separated lanes before this law was passed. But local governments, concerned about liability if they built infrastructure not sanctioned by Caltrans, were still mostly adding Class II bikeways, which are delineated by paint only.
Photo by Jasper Garratt on Unsplash
