Monday marks the beginning of what could become Denver’s most important bike lane to date: A two-way bike lane on South Broadway protected from traffic by parked cars.

The parking-protected lane will only be a half-mile long, but hopefully that’s just temporary. If Denver Public Works okays it after a 15-month test period, the lane could stretch between Colfax and I-25, which would finally give people on bikes a safe, comfortable, and direct way to travel north and south through the city.

Here’s how you can help make sure the Broadway bike lane becomes permanent.

Ride It Monday and Beyond

Transportation planners will collect a lot of data over the test period, including how many people use the new bike lane. The number of riders won’t make or break the project, but the more bikes on Broadway the better. A good way to make sure it becomes permanent is to ride it whenever you can, starting Monday.

The lane runs between Bayaud and Virginia avenues. Unfortunately, it doesn’t connect to any other bike lanes, but Public Works has installed signs and street markings to create bike routes to and from the lane where nearby bike lanes don’t exist. Here’s the map:

Hit Up the Bikes on Broadway Social at Illegal Pete’s

BikeDenver and Bicycle Colorado are hosting a party at Illegal Pete’s at 270 S. Broadway from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. You can party, but if you want to get wonky, you can do that too. The blueprints will be on display.

Tell Public Works and City Council Why Denver Needs This

Public Works set up a pretty comprehensive website about this project. You can dive deep into the plans — more than a year in the making — or just tell Public Works why this street redesign is important to you. While you’re at it, tell your city council member too.

Hype It Up with #BikesOnBroadway

For all the social media folk, use the #BikesOnBroadway hashtag and let people know this bike lane is a thing.

By the way, this bike lane is just one piece of a larger redesign of the Broadway/Lincoln corridor. When all is said and done, the street will be organized in a way that caters to walking, transit, and biking as much as it caters to motorists. We could see Public Works testing a better transit-only lane for RTD buses during the test period as well.