Complete Streets Needed in Colorado

One of the biggest challenges bicyclists in Colorado face is that most roads are built incomplete, designed to move just one type of user – motorists. When a street is built complete it is designed to safely accommodate all users including bicyclists, pedestrians, children, motorists, transit users, seniors and the disabled.

In Colorado, most roads do not have bike lanes and many do not have sidewalks. Hectic intersections form barriers. Busy turning lanes are difficult to cross. Wide lanes promote speeding. The result is that many roads discourage bicycling, as well as walking and access to transit.

Complete streets will lead to more bicycle-friendly roads, which will increase the number of bicyclists, strengthen Colorado tourism and reduce road maintenance costs due to less wear and tear. Complete streets will also help Colorado comply with federal policies on bicycle and pedestrian design.

Three Colorado cities are using the positive effect of complete streets to lower residents’ transportation costs and improve their health. Colorado Springs, Boulder and Fort Collins already have complete streets policies, but the rest of the state has yet to adopt this guidance.

In Colorado about 2% of commuters bicycle to work and just over 6% of students bicycle to school as

their primary mode of transportation. But when roads are designed to safely accommodate all types of users, bicycle ridership soars. In Boulder, for example, as many as 21% of commuters bicycle to work and 23% of university students bicycle to school.

A statewide example comes from Oregon’s complete streets policy. Oregon increased the number of people who bicycle to work by 45% between 1990 and 2005 (and that’s after adjusting for population growth). This growth rate was more than 2.5 times higher than Colorado’s growth rate with incomplete streets during the same period.

During the months ahead Bicycle Colorado will partner with other road safety groups, transportation officials, and policy makers in support of complete streets in Colorado. Broad coalitions are generating complete streets policies across the country, and the need in Colorado is clear. Working together we can ensure bicyclists are welcome and feel safe on our public roads. Learn more about Complete Streets at www.CompleteStreets.org