Unique Ideas Being Considered for First-Ever Downtown Master Transportation Plan

None by KCPW

Color-Coded Bike Lanes, Bikes on Sidewalks Among Ideas

(KCPW News 10/25/06) Should bicyclists in the downtown area be allowed to ride on a designated portion of sidewalks? Will color-coded bike lanes increase cyclist safety? Those are just some of the ideas being vetted as Salt Lake City, UTA, UDOT, the Salt Lake Chamber & Downtown Alliance, and the city's Redevelopment Agency pursue a first-ever downtown master transportation plan:

"The idea," says Tim Harpst, Salt Lake City Transportation Director, "is to actually paint the traffic lane, so you see a different color and texture - the drivers know where the bicyclists are going to be - and this is very important if you're using a share-the-lane concept, which we will need to do in some of our streets where we don't have enough width to provide a separate bike lane."

Harpst is part of the team that has been working since April to collate ideas and get professional as well as public feedback on a 20-year plan to guide the flow of pedestrians, cyclists, cars, buses, light rail and commuter rail in and out of the heart of the city. While it would require a change in city ordinance, Harpst says the idea of adding bike lanes to downtown sidewalks is one worth investigating:

"In the downtown, we have 20-foot-wide sidewalks. And if we could rearrange some of the furniture that's out there on the sidewalk, you actually have space that could be put aside specifically for the bicyclists and space that could be put aside specifically for the pedestrians, and separate them with physical features, such as the furniture that's out there."

A draft of the downtown master transportation plan will be unveiled during an open house in January. But you can offer your take on these cyclist-friendly ideas now by going to www.slctrans.com.

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