Bike To Work Day Key In Bike Infrastructure Decisions
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) – The City of Aurora is just beginning a project that will put protected bike lanes on the streets around the Florida Avenue Light Rail Station. The two-way, protected cycle tracks will be constructed on Florida Avenue, Potomac Street, and Jewell Avenue.
"This project is really important because it provides a first/last mile connection to transit, that's a really high comfort facility," said Emily Lindsey, a transportation planner for the Denver Regional Council of Governments, or DRCOG.
The bike lanes will also connect the Westerly Creek Trail and the Toll Gate Creek trail providing a regional thruway for cyclists.
"The overall goal for active transportation in the region is to make it safe, comfortable, and well connected, so that people have transportation choices and options as they travel," Lindsey said.
The Aurora project is among many projects designed to connect the regional bike trails and boost bicycle transportation. Transportation planners can use the information they get from Bike to Work Day registration to help them make decisions and fund bike lane projects.
"If we know where people are coming from and going to, we have a pretty good idea of the origin and destination so we can do that routing analysis that tells us where high populations and concentrations of folks could be travelling," Lindsey explained.
LINK: Register for Bike to Work Day
Colorado's Bike to Work Day is Wednesday, June 26th, and is sponsored by Way to Go, a division of DRCOG. There are 300 waystations set up for the morning commute, and several regional parties and celebrations for the ride home.