Of course, the topic of bike lanes is a bit heated at times. To be honest, I do not care if a bike lane exists or not. It may be beneficial for novice riders to get them cycling.
I think sharrows make more sense. Possibly cheaper to mark as well.
Oh and Denver has this awesome bike route map:
http://www.denvergov.org/Bicycle_Pro...9/Default.aspx

Simply signing bike routes helps greatly. I love to follow Denver's when exploring since it takes a bit of the guess work out. Plus, a good chunk of my commute is on various bike routes. Tis a very nice thing to have. Maybe Denver is better than I made it out to be and perhaps I need to move to somewhere else to truly appreciate it.