Elements of a Separated Bike Lane
This Separated Bike Lane Planning and Design Guide outlines planning considerations for separated bike lanes (also sometimes called "cycle tracks" or "protected bike lanes") and provides a menu of design options covering typical one and two-way scenarios. It highlights different options for providing separation, while also documenting midblock design considerations for driveways, transit stops, accessible parking, and loading zones. It provides detailed intersection design information covering topics such as turning movement operations, signalization, signage, and on-road markings. Case studies highlight best practices and lessons learned throughout the document.
The Guide consolidates lessons learned from practitioners designing and implementing separated bike lanes throughout the U.S. It attempts to capture the current state of practice, while still recognizing that our understanding of this facility type is still evolving and that there is a need for design flexibility. To encourage continued development and refinement of techniques, the guide identifies specific data elements to collect before and after implementation to enable future analysis across facilities in different communities. It identifies potential future research, highlights the importance of ongoing peer exchange and capacity building, and emphasizes the need to create holistic ways to evaluate the performance of a separated bike lane.
A separated bike lane is an exclusive facility for bicyclists that is located within or directly adjacent to the roadway and that is physically separated from motor vehicle traffic with a vertical element. Separated bike lanes are differentiated from standard and buffered bike lanes by the vertical element. They are differentiated from shared use paths (and sidepaths) by their more proximate relationship to the adjacent roadway and the fact that they are bike-only facilities. Separated bike lanes are also sometimes called "cycle tracks" or "protected bike lanes."
Higgins Street separated bike lane in downtown
Missoula, MT (Source: City of Missoula)
Within the common elements of separated bike lanes - dedicated space for cyclists that is separated from motor vehicle travel and parking lanes - practitioners have flexibility in choosing specific design elements. Separated bike lanes can operate as one-way or two-way facilities; their designs can integrate with turning automobile traffic at intersections or can be more fully separated; they can be designed at roadway grade, at sidewalk grade or at an intermediate grade; and they can be separated from the adjacent roadway or sidewalk with a variety of treatments including but not limited to on-street parking, raised curbs or medians, bollards, landscaping, or planters.
Separated bike lanes are one of many bicycle facility types that can be used to create connected bicycle networks. FHWA defines a network as "Interconnected pedestrian and/or bicycle transportation facilities that allow people of all ages and abilities to safely and conveniently get where they want to go." Connected bicycle networks can include all of the facility types shown in Figure 2.
Separated Bike Lanes compared to other bicycle facility types
Separated bike lanes have existed in the United States since at least the 1970s, but only in the past several years has interest spread outside of a handful of early-adopting cities: an inventory of such facilities found that they have doubled in number since 2011 and may double again by 2016.(1) Separated bike lanes have been a fixture of bicycle networks in many countries with high rates of cycling for decades. Today, interest in separated bike lanes is accelerating in the U.S. and there is a rapidly growing list of planned and implemented separated facilities across the country. The Green Lane Project, a program of the PeopleForBikes organization, maintains an inventory of separated bike lanes in the U.S., which is available at: http://www.peopleforbikes.org/green-lane-project/pages/inventory-of-protected-bike-lanes.
Separated bike lanes have the potential to improve traffic safety for all street users, especially when implemented as part of a "road diet" or other traffic calming project. Separated bike lanes can help to organize all traffic modes, while also reducing pedestrian crossing distances and decreasing "leapfrogging" between buses and bicyclists. Separated bike lanes can contribute to increased bicycling volumes and mode shares, in part by appealing to less confident riders and this could eventually result in a more diverse ridership across age, gender, and ability. Shifting a greater share of commute, errand, or social trips to the bicycle also offers one potential solution for relieving traffic congestion and contributing to other public policy goals.
Separated bike lanes are one of many bicycle facility types and they exist within a broader context shaped by demographic and land use changes and influenced by interrelated transportation, public health, environmental, and economic factors. In many communities there is an aging population maintaining an independent lifestyle later in life and at the same time a generation of younger adults that is driving less and riding transit more than previous generations. Separated bike lanes can speak to both of these demographic trends, while also contributing to a community's health and economic goals, as noted below.
As the linkages between the built environment and public health - in particular, the obesity epidemic - have become clear, creating more opportunities for residents to incorporate "active transportation" modes such as walking and bicycling into their daily lives has been identified as one strategy to encourage healthier lifestyles(2). Research has also suggested that the creation of bicycle-friendly streets can be a boon to business, encouraging greater patronage of local retail(3). Cities like New York City and Chicago have framed strategic infrastructure investments, such as separated bike lanes, as an element of their economic development strategies.
On Kinzie Street in Chicago, parked cars and flexible
delineator posts on both sides of the street separate the
bike lanes from traffic. (Source: City of Chicago)
As with all transportation investments, there are important equity considerations associated with separated bike lanes. Separated bike lanes can contribute to greater mobility at low cost to lower-income populations, providing a "last mile" link to transit, and expanding access to employment opportunities. Providing opportunities for public input throughout the planning and design process can build local support for separated bike lanes, while also ensuring that community concerns are addressed.
Chapter 4 of this document emphasizes the importance of providing opportunities for early and ongoing public engagement in proposed separated bike lane projects because a strong public involvement program will ensure that social, economic, and environmental issues are fully considered. Practitioners must also ensure that their professional actions do not impose "disproportionately high and adverse effects" on low-income and minority populations, as specified by the DOT Order 5610.2(a), Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Environmental Justice Executive Order 12898.
For more information on public involvement requirements, see: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/public_involvement/orders/#a11
Refer specifically to Part 450: Planning Assistance and Standards, Subpart B: Statewide Transportation Planning and Programming, 23 CFR 450.210: Interested parties, public involvement, and consultation and Part 450: Planning Assistance and Standards, Subpart C: Metropolitan Transportation Planning and Programming, 23 CFR 450.316: Interested parties, participation, and consultation.
Additional resources and tools for engaging the public and building community support for walking and bicycling are available on the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) website at http://www.pedbikeinfo.org.
