chennai

I am probably the last one to hear this, but in my opinion, it's wonderful news.

Bike advocates start printing your resumes.

dark13star

link?

cyccommute 

Yea. Just great news. Especially if you like cars. The management in the Engineering division doesn't like bikes, didn't like the Bicycle Pedestrian Planner position and is not likely to fill it. A golden age is at hand indeed

DataJunkie

I can't seem to find info on this. Link por favor?

cyccommute 

I don't think it is public knowledge. My information is from a private source...and shall remain that way.

DataJunkie

OoooOoO!
Secrets!
I vote farm it out to a third party...like bicycle colorado or bike denver. Why not? Everything seems to be privatized nowadays.

chennai

I think we will see Denver hire a bicycle advocate who will build an active, effective bike program -- one we can be proud of. If Chicago can have a successful program, why can't Denver? We have great topography, good weather, and an active populace. What we haven't had is leadership, advocacy, or vision. Outside government, Bike Denver has been renewed. Now, government is changing. It's exciting.

cyccommute 

Do you have a reading comprehension problem? The Mayor's office may like bicycling but the Traffic Engineering bureaucracy doesn't. They are actively hostile to it and have used their power to hogtie the activities of the current bicycle planner. The head of Traffic Engineering is going absolutely no where and that's exactly where the bicycle program in Denver is going now.

In plain English, there will be no Bicycle Pedestrian planner in the near future and your dreams of are as dead as the active and effective bicycle program we did have but which you hated so much.

dark13star

This is an interesting perspective, but I just can't give it much weight without evidence.

DataJunkie

I am not sure I share the doom and gloom attitude.
Denver seems proud to be a cycling friendly city and I am not sure how this will effect things... if at all.
Guess we wait and see.

chennai

I agree.

chennai

I agree: Denver is proud to be cycling friendly city. Perhaps that's the main reason I am confident and optimistic.

I'm also confident and optimistic because times have changed for cycling, and I think the city "gets it."



As you say, we will see.

DataJunkie

I wonder what recourse we will have if \ when the engineering division ends up tossing the bike program. Petitions to the mayors office? Perhaps bike denver and bicycle colorado would get something going. Anyhow, only time will tell.
The timing is odd being that we are seeing a large increase in riders due to gas prices. You would think a stronger bike program would make more sense. ugh

chennai

I think a stronger program makes great sense AND I think that's where we are headed.

The change was long overdue. I do wonder why the change wasn't made earlier. I know at least one city council person who had heard a great deal about the need for changes. You may have put your finger on it though. . . . the increase in number of riders may have finally made someone say, "we need to do better."

cyccommute 

And who, exactly, do you think is responsible for Denver being a bicycling friendly city? You have had it in for this bicycle planner for a very long time and I have no idea why. But he has made more then just cursory contributions to bicycling within the City and County of Denver and nationally. To name but a few of his accomplishments:

-'Bike in the house' pavement markings from which Sharrows come. The first of these were painted on the pavement of 47th Ave near Sheridan. Rather then mark continuous lanes, the arrows tell drivers and cyclists that bikes use the road too.

-Detours for construction projects that impact bicycle facilities. If a construction project is planned on a bike way, bike route, bike lane, etc., a detour must be provided, planned and marked. Prior to this innovation, bicycle facilities were just closed.

-New ASHTO regulations in signage and street markings.

-Marked and named routes within the City and County of Denver with maps provided on the street to give the cyclist some indication of where the route goes. Surrounding municipalities have picked up the system on a limited basis and expanded it.

-Regulations (not always followed nor enforced) on the types of bicycle parking racks that are to be used for new construction within the City of Denver.

-Recognition of the hazards of bollards on bikeways and a reduction of their use where possible along with removal of the extended collars that used to be prevalent.

-Changes in drainage grates to eliminate the wheel trapping variety.

-15 years of involvement (often with his own money) for Bike-to-Work Day activities. The Greek Theater breakfast station has been established through his efforts.

-Service on the Governor's and Mayor's advisory boards.

-Pushing to redesign problem areas for better sightlines and less user problems.

-Separating the bicycle and ped traffic along Cherry Creek in the Downtown area for the safety of all facility users.

-Pushing for zoning regulations to accommodate bicycles and riders in new buildings.

-Two and possibly 3 master plans. Some items have not be completed but given the funding environment of Colorado public works projects, that is to be expect and is hardly the fault of one man in a rather large bureaucracy.

-The opening of Pena Blvd to bicycle traffic after we were stabbed in the back by the airport authority. This effort alone took nearly 5 years of work after we were initially told that bikes would be welcome on that road.

-Plus many, many more than can be listed.

You seem to feel that all of this stuff just happened by itself without anyone from the City and County of Denver 'getting it'. They have been 'getting it' for over 15 years...at least one guy in the bureaucracy has been 'getting it'... as the above indicates. Denver has more and better bicycle facilities (bike lanes, bike routes, bikeways, parking, etc.) than any of the surrounding cities...including Boulder!

Denver had a strong program that has done amazing things considering that it is a one man operation in a very car-centric shop with very limited budgets. Now that he is gone, I'm sure you'll get change...just not the kind you want. I see no one pushing for a stronger program and the removal of the only person doing the job certainly doesn't say that we are headed in a positive direction.

gps_dr

I contacted the Denver Regional Council of Governments regarding
adding a connection from the Rock Cr Trail to US 287 (seemed cheap & Logical to me).

They should be the coordinating body for the region, but nothing happening there either.

Response was from someone there: (one person passed it on to another)

Since we do not have a Bike and Ped planner yet, I am sending this email to you. We received it at our drcog@drcog.org mail box.

Just a brief response here because I am heading out. Seems like a good idea, but I don't recall enough about the exact location (cost, enviro impacts, etc...) It looks like that location would be in Boulder County's jurisdiction. And there would also need to be involvement from the Colorado Department of Transportation, since they own US-287