biking

A 49% increase in traffic fatalities highlights how little Mayor Hancock’s administration has achieved in the three years since it adopted a Vision Zero Action Plan, which aims to end all traffic fatalities by 2030.

Hundreds of people on bikes gathered near the ballpark last night before riding in the rain to a candlelight vigil held where a driver hit and killed a bicyclist last week. The second cyclist death in as many weeks, the action was part memorial, part protest and also part of an annual celebration when bicyclists put on dresses and ride through the city.

There were no new traffic fatalities in Denver last week but drivers caused 482 crashes that seriously injured five and the total number of fatalities is up 38 percent year. The increasing number deaths show that the city's Vision Zero program is failing to make progress toward its goal to eliminate all traffic fatalities and serious injuries.

This morning’s Streetsblog Denver Headlines included a story from the local Fox affiliate titled: “Denver surveying downtown bike lanes to make sure it’s a ‘return on investment.’” The story claimed incorrectly that the city installed traffic counters on several bikeways “to make sure people are using these bike lanes enough to justify the price.” She said … Continued

Mayor Hancock kicked off his third and final term today by calling for lower speed limits and better designed streets to keep cyclists and pedestrians safer in an “urgent” attempt to take back control of the streets from reckless car owners.  “Our streets must change to make way for more transit riders, bike riders and … Continued

A new mural on the Cherry Creek Trail honors Major Taylor, a cyclist whose integrity and grit helped him overcome racial prejudice to become the first African-American to win a world cycling championship in 1899.

See photos from Bike to Work festivities around Denver

UPDATE: 11:18 a.m. Wednesday July 3: Bright spot today: Bicyclist Willie Latimer's recovery is "extraordinary," his brother says. He's undergoing facial reconstructive surgery — lots of pain, but getting better. He's out of the ICU and has spoken; cognition is "promising" but "isn't quite all there yet." — Andrew Kenney (@AndyKnny) July 2, 2019 UPDATE: … Continued

A group of Denver bike advocates created a “low-stress bike map.” The idea, which the city and some bike advocates have mixed feelings about, is to get more people riding bicycles now — instead of waiting several years for the city to build out a more complete network of protected bike lanes.