The City is installing bicycle lanes on Tech Center between the Ute Valley Trailhead and Rockrimmon in conjunction with repaving scheduled for the summer of 2022.
A key connection
Rusina Road and Tech Center Drive are a key connection between the Garden of the Gods Road area, the Pikes Peak Greenway, and the Rockrimmon neighborhoods.
Because of the east-west oriented bluffs in the area, the Popes Valley neighborhood and Ute Valley Park, Rusina and Tech Center is the only potential north-south route between I-25 and Centennial Blvd.
The solution
Tech Center Drive is a higher volume, higher speed two lane roadway adjacent to I-25. Because of the volume and speed of traffic, cycle lanes with a greater degree of protection are needed in order to be consistent with standards in the Bike Master Plan.
On the segment between Rockrimmon Blvd and the intersection of Pro Rodeo Drive and Tech Center Drive the buffered bike lanes will be next to the outside curb. The medians will remain.
On the segment between the Ute Valley Trailhead and the intersection of Pro Rodeo Drive and Tech Center Drive, a cycletrack will be added to position both directions of bicycle travel on the west side of the roadway. A poured concrete median will separate the bicycle travel from the vehicle travel. To make space for everything, the left turn lane has been removed.
Because most people on bicycle will enter Rusina/Tech Center from the west at Elkton, and are heading to the Rockrimmon area, having both directions of bicycle travel on one side of the road will eliminate left turning conflicts with vehicles.
In addition, the Ute Valley Park Trailhead is at the lower end of the proposed project, allowing people from the Rockrimmon area to bike to the trailhead instead of drive, without turning left into traffic.
Safety benefits
- Providing dedicated space for people on bikes keeps them safer.
- Narrowing the travel lanes on a roadway can help slow traffic down.
Frequently asked questions
Why a permanent poured concrete median?
Having two directions of bicycle travel on one side of the road necessitates a physical barrier to prevent head-on collisions since the bicycle travel adjacent to the vehicle travel lane is traveling in the opposite direction.
How does this connect to bigger plans?
Public Works is working with the Parks Department to pave the parking lot and run the cycletrack around the parking area on the inside.
The cycletrack will continue south to Popes Valley and be built as the properties to the south develop.
South of Popes Valley the roadway narrows, and continuation of the cycle track on the ledge to the west of the road has been identified as a capital project in ConnectCOS.
The City would like to build out the bicycle network in the Rockrimmon area to connect to this project to the north, but has no immediate plans to do so.