The city of Lakewood is seeking feedback from the community to update its Bike Plan for 2025.
The current Plan was adopted back in 2018, and separated bike lanes didn’t make a debut in the area
until after the Plan was written. In the six years since the Plan was adopted by Lakewood City Council, the active transportation landscape has changed significantly as bicycling infrastructure expands throughout the region.
According to Active Transportation Coordinator for the city, 
Jenny Gritton, the first separated bike lanes were installed earlier this year on Garrison Street, Denver West Parkway, and a small section of Harlan Street.
The project team lead by Gritton, has spent the last few months drafting a proposed bicycle network based on neighboring bike plans, previous recommendations from the 2018 Plan, and bike and vehicle counts and speed data.
Now, they are looking for YOUR input. You can provide your feedback on their initial recommendations using the interactive map link below now through this Sunday, November 17th:
“There are several corridors in Lakewood that currently have bike lanes that we think because of bicycle volume, car volume, and speeds could use an upgrade from traditional painted lines to separated barriers between cars and bikes, so that’s really a main driving point for this Plan,” said Gritton.
Proposed changes are not limited to just new bike lanes, but separated bike lanes to make travel safer for cyclists, as well as more visible to motorists. 
There is data, Gritton says, that shows separated bike lanes decreases overall crashes on the roadway. The draft recommendations also include shared-use trails, and new neighborhood bikeway designations.
“A really important part-and probably the most important part of any city plan is drafting the ideas and taking it back to the community,” said Gritton. “It’s the residents that live on these streets, it’s the residents that walk and bike on these streets every single day that know the nature of these roads. So, it’s important to reach out to the community and say here’s our vision – what do you think?.”
Other goals include analyzing the connectivity of Lakewood’s bicycle network to neighboring municipalities by advantage of the infrastructure they already have and add to it, instead of changing the streets themselves.
“The idea is that we’re making it safe for everyone out on the roadway – drivers drive with a little bit more caution, bicyclist stay in their lane, everyone is aware that this road is being shared and ideally have a place where everyone belongs on this road,” said Gritton.
Hopefully the goal will be reached to finalize a plan by the end of this year and bring that to City Council sometime next year. There’s no timeline yet on when the implementation of the Plan could start.
There are just a few days left to get your input into these changes, but it is important. Please take a little time and give Gritton and Lakewood your thoughts and opinions on this Plan by visiting the project website at:
LakewoodTogether.org/BikePlanUpdate.
Colorado Avid Cyclist will be doing follow up articles on this Plan as it is finalized and goes into production.
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