With the blessing of the city council and Mayor Ralph Becker, an unabashed cycling enthusiast, the city is about a month into trying out the two new lane configurations, designed to test ways of making biking on urban streets safer for two-wheeled traffic.
Depending how the pilot project goes, residents could see similar lanes being added throughout the downtown in future years.
A so-called buffered bike lane runs between 800 and 900 South on 300 East, amounting to a striped buffer painted on the pavement on either side of a conventional bike lane.
In addition to being cost-effective, the bikeways are thought to be compatible with other city operations, such as snow removal and trash pickup.
Public response in hand, the city will consider incorporating the lanes and similar ideas into broader plans, particularly as elected officials and city staff begin an overhaul this fall of the city’s bicycle-pedestrian master plan, last revised in 2004.
Salt Lake City saw a 28 percent increase in bicycle travel last year, and city planners are anticipating a similar rise again this year when a new batch of surveys and other data also is compiled in the fall. Salt Lake Tribune
