On May 29, preliminary plans for a protected bike lane on Central Park Blvd. from Montview to 36ht Ave. were presented at a public meeting at Central Park Rec Center. Participants were asked to contribute comments that are being considered during revisions to the plans. A late summer or fall meeting will be held for the revised plans to be shown.

Stapleton’s rail station is one factor that made Central Park Blvd. (CPB), from Montview to 36th Ave., a high priority location for one of Denver’s eight high-comfort bike lane projects. More desirable bicycle access to the rail station has the potential to reduce the number of drivers along that stretch of road.

The graphic illustrates how a rider’s comfort increases with greater separation from motor vehicles.

Park Hill resident Nam Henderson and Stapleton residentTimothy Hilton discuss the plans

In addition, CPB could use some traffic calming measures. The existing bike lanes that adjoin traffic lanes visually widen the road for drivers, encouraging higher speeds. Moving the parked cars next to traffic and narrowing the vehicle lanes causes drivers to reduce their speed. Think about driving downtown where people are opening doors and getting out of their cars next to the traffic lane, explains Jacob Ojera, one of the engineers from RS&H who is working on the design of the bike lanes.

Ojera said the only people who will be unhappy about this are aggressive drivers. And a few parking spaces will be lost since no parking is allowed near intersections so bicyclists will be clearly visible. If drivers will just maintain the 30mph speed limit, traffic will move smoothly, he says.

The feedback from bicyclists at the meeting was positive, though they had plenty of questions and suggestions that they posted onto the wall maps of the existing and proposed bike lanes. One of the suggestions was to have some sort of physical separation of the bike lane, like a curb. The engineers agreed, but said funding will determine what it will be.

The Elevate Denver Bond Program was approved by voters in 2017 to enhance roads, sidewalks, parks, recreation centers, libraries, cultural centers, public buildings, health and safety facilities. It included $18 million toward the design and construction of 50 miles of bikeways citywide. Some of the goals of Elevate Denver are to increase households within one-quarter mile of high-comfort bikeways from 34.7% to 100% by 2030 and add 125 miles of bikeways from 2019 to 2023.

For more information on the High Comfort Bikeway on Central Park Blvd., click here.

For a map of S. Stapleton Bike Routes, click here.

For future meetings and more information, search for: “Elevate Denver Bike Projects –2019-2020” at Denvergov.org. Plans for 8 high comfort bike lanes are listed.