Quote:
Originally Posted by TakeFive
Let me say upfront that I've come around to appreciating bike lanes. That said...
I'm not aware of your "price of 1 mile of highway" comparison but at least that one mile of highway accommodates the over 90% of people who drive.
With respect to costs those can vary widely. For example, Seattle promised voters a cost of $860,000 per mile for protected bike lanes...
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...gh-in-seattle/
Have you allocated the cost of paving/repaving or drainage considerations for the area that bike lanes would be occupying? Will the city have to buy new snow removal equipment just for the bike lanes? How about the cost of repairing damaged bollards or other means of protection. What about the cost of cleaning spills etc?
The larger complexity is how bike lanes will interface with and fit into the overall scheme of moving people into and out of downtown or through various neighborhoods?
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I'm basing my estimate on the fact that highways typically cost $8M to $10M per mile, depending on whether they're 4 or 6 lane.
Seattle's bike lane boondoggle is unique to them because installing raised walkways, with a lot of form work, drainage, and new lights with signal rewiring installed is expensive. In fact, we don't even need raised lanes that require extensive work; why not just protect the edge of the road with plastic parking stops (similar to what's in place outside of Union Station). I think they're about $50 apiece. I bet we could get a gofundme page and raise the necessary funds in a weekend or two. Road signs wouldn't even need to be updated (since what bikers use them anyway). Comparatively, most cities install bike lines for about $150K per mile, but we just need several more installed on non commuter lanes and we'd be fine. Bikers shouldn't be anywhere near high volume auto lanes, anyway.
Denver just needs to make biking a bigger priority. Those fixated on the cost remind me of those families who drive their SUV's to the dollar store and complain about the cost of a candy bar.