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| Update November 2009: Jeffco Commissioners make public statement
Statewide legislation is proposed to expand bike ban authority to sixty-four separate county governments. Bicycle Colorado is working to prevent this expansion. Bike bans are not the way to improve road safety. SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED, NOT BIKE BANS All local governments have a multitude of tools at their disposal to address roadway safety for motorists and bicyclists. There are many safety answers that don't need legislation opening the door to bike bans. Safety improvements to roadways are done with design changes, improved signage, better enforcement, education programs, and awareness building. Bike bans are not the answer.
TRAFFIC LAWS ARE THE FRAMEWORK Existing traffic laws don't prevent county governments from making a public road safe and welcoming to the public in cars and on bikes. State traffic laws provide consistent expectations for safe behavior on public roadways throughout the state. A patchwork of traffic laws that vary county-by-county will confuse road users and move away from improving safety. SOLVING THE RIGHT PROBLEM Often safety is used as an excuse for bike bans when the real problem is roads designed only for motor vehicles resulting in high speeds and poor behavior. Rather than a practical approach of restriping lanes and calming traffic, thereby reducing the risk of crashes on the road, bike bans are introduced. Bans don't solve any of the existing road design safety issues.
Countering this proposed legislation will be resource intensive and a major challenge. Bicyclists will need to fund campaign expenses and expand our statewide grassroots advocacy action network. This will take lobbyists, lawyers and professional staff, plus media and education materials. If we all chip in, the costs are small for everyone. If we let this threat go unanswered, the cost of losing access to county roads is impossible to measure. ACCESS TO COUNTY ROADS IS IMPORTANT Legislation to expand bike ban authority is a losing proposition for Colorado tourism, charity fundraising events, efforts to reduce congestion, and promotion of healthy bicycle travel. There are many, many options for counties to improve road safety within existing state motor vehicle and bicycle vehicle laws. Creating county-by-county, one-of-a-kind traffic laws is a danger for everyone on the road. We need consistency, not a patchwork of rules that change at every county line or every time you exit from a state or U.S. highway. COMPLETE STREETS HELPING COUNTIES Many counties around the country are finding complete streets policies are the best way to improve road safety. To date, no counties in Colorado have adopted complete streets policies to guide them in using public right-of-way for safe travel of all road users. Compare this with complete street policies in major Colorado cities like Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, and Boulder. Building a road only for motorized vehicles and then banning non-motorized users is outrageous and a poor use of publicy funded transportation resources.
Bicycle Colorado members have worked to successfully overcome bike bans and caps on events in the past. However, this issue may be the biggest challenge yet to bicycling in Colorado. If you ride a bicycle, you need to be involved and informed. Thank you for your support.
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