Snow Routes cleared for bike commuters & Safe Routes to School

[Bryan Wilson]

Hello,

I rode a short distance down 16th Ave from Denver East High School on Tuesday.

The Protected Bikelanes on each side of 16th from City Park Esplanade to York St were clear & so was City Park Esplanade.

Thank you!!!

Unfortunately, getting to either City Park Esplanade or 16th at York was challenging, to say the least.

Can we PLEASE plan to plow designated bike routes quickly after a snowstorm, like 16th Avenue?

The South side (Eastbound) has no parking & the North side (Westbound) has a door-zone bike lane. We could ask residents to move their cars the first business day after a snowfall. So, in this case, we got fresh snow on Monday morning making Tuesday the day to ask residents to move their vehicles, like street sweeping.

This will allow the larger plows to make quick work of plowing the vehicle travel lanes & then the outsides maybe dropping a small amount of ice melt. Doing so yesterday would mean that it would be mostly clear today & bike commuters would know they could safely ride that route two(2) days after a snowfall.

Is this something we can make happen just by request or do we need to go through the motions of presenting it to a committee, making a motion, passing the motion, presenting a resolution, voting on a resolution, sending that resolution to the City Council, having the City Council discuss it, & so on?

These were the conditions Tuesday after 3pm ...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFIXBofRyO7/?igsh=cHVmNzF4cGExcW9z

Thank you in advance for helping to prioritize safe & connected bike routes in Denver.

Respectfully,

Bryan Wilson 

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On Fri, Jan 17, 2025, 10:00 AM Bryan Wilson <bryan...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello,

The 16th Avenue bike lane is dangerously icy. 

This video was taken adjacent to the business at 1580 Williams Street. 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DE7x0gDRaLW/?igsh=enF6azUyZ2YyeWVj

Please address this issue as soon as possible. 

Thank you, 

Bryan Wilson

[Bryan Wilson]

Thanks for the response, Frank.

On Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 8:20 AM Frank Locantore <fr...@colfaxave.com> wrote:

Sure. When you distribute the flyers,  consider distributing the them to the residential homes on the side streets along 16th Ave, too. Many of the cars parked on 16th are owned by residents in the intersecting blocks. I don't think you need a City Council decision to distribute flyers. Just don't put lawn signs on tree lawns.

-Frank
sent by mobile, expect typos

[Frank Locantore]

Sure. When you distribute the flyers,  consider distributing the them to the residential homes on the side streets along 16th Ave, too. Many of the cars parked on 16th are owned by residents in the intersecting blocks. I don't think you need a City Council decision to distribute flyers. Just don't put lawn signs on tree lawns.

-Frank
sent by mobile, expect typos

[Bryan Wilson]

This is great news!

I'm looping in Nick Williams with Denver DOTI. Please begin dispatching snow plows to clear bike routes a day or two after a snow storm.

My suggestion would be to figure out capacity with plows/drivers & then post that schedule online at DenverGov.org/Snow.

From there, maybe DOTI could use the street sweeping reminders to send out location based notifications about the plows, but clarify that no citations will be issued. Parked cars will just be plowed around leaving them potentially surrounded by snow & ice. This will help to notify people who are perhaps regularly parking on 16th, but don't physically live in the street.

Thank you in advance for prioritizing safe & connected bike infrastructure in Denver!

Respectfully,

Bryan Wilson 

PS: Please advise if the prior statement is inaccurate. Obviously, there is more to this than just distributing flyers.

On Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 8:20 AM Frank Locantore <fr...@colfaxave.com> wrote:

[Bryan Wilson]

Hello again,

Per DenverGov.org/Snow, plows are supposed to be clearing through bike lanes to the curb.
When can we expect that to happen on streets like 11th Ave in Cap Hill, 12th Ave in Congress Park, or 16th Ave between Park & York?


It seems like they're not being plowed at all.

Also, routes like the Franklin St Neighborhood Bikeway aren't having key areas like South of 13th into Cheesman Park or North of 14th around the Diverter cleared of snow & ice.

When can we expect that to be addressed?
This was Saturday around 3:30pm.


Looks like Franklin isn't even listed on the Denver Snow Routes Map.
Other streets like 16th & 12th are listed as Priority B, but it's unclear what that means for the bike lanes that seem to get ignored.


Can we please update the map adding ALL Neighborhood Bikeways as "Priorty B" routes?
Can we also request that drivers move their vehicles from those routes the day after a snowfall so that they can be cleared effectively?

Thank you in advance for prioritizing safe & connected bike routes in Denver.

Respectfully,
Bryan Wilson

[Bryan Wilson]

Hello,

Just wanted to follow-up to see if we had made any progress on this...

At the very least, I think we could utilize the existing street sweeping alert system to notify drivers that plows are going to be running on certain streets. This will give them the chance to move their vehicle & allow the the plow drivers to move more efficiently on the route to clear through the bike lane to the curb on the streets with unprotected bikelanes like 11th Ave in Cap Hill or 16th Ave from Humboldt to Gaylord.

Based on a phone call I received, we will need to budget for additional snow routes, like sending neighborhood plows down designated Neighborhood Bikeways like 21st Ave West of York. The short segments of bike lanes get plowed, but not the rest of the Neighborhood Bikeway. This past season, it didn't seem like the diverter on Franklin at 14th was plowed a single time.

It would be nice if at least a few routes could be designated as "snow routes" for bikes & actually get cleared so we can move efficiently along then without struggling through piles of slush that freeze over during the night. It's why I see riders on roads like 13th or 14th Avenues instead of the bike routes.

Thank you in advance for your help prioritizing safety bike mobility in Denver!

Respectfully,

Bryan Wilson