[IDEASWANTED]

I'm looking for ideas of what you guys think are safety concerns for bicylists in the Lyons area of Colorado. Specifically on US 36 and SH 7. Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated.


Thanks,


Ideas

 

[Bocephus Jones II]

I'm looking for ideas of what you guys think are safety concerns for bicylists in the Lyons area of Colorado. Specifically on US 36 and SH 7. Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated.


Thanks,


Ideas

cars and trucks.

 

[IDEASWANTED]

Thanks for being so specific.

 

[Bocephus Jones II]

Thanks for being so specific.

you're welcome--thanks for wording your question so broadly.

 

[IDEASWANTED]

We're looking at actually making a difference for bicylists in this area. If you are at all familiar with this area and ride it frequently, I'd hope you had something more specific to add. I know that there is limited shoulder space in areas, specifically on US 36 WB near the Diamond Shamrock. I know there are narrow shoulders on sections up the canyon on US 36 and on SH 7, but I'm looking for specifics of where the road biking community has concerns.

 

[Bocephus Jones II]

We're looking at actually making a difference for bicylists in this area. If you are at all familiar with this area and ride it frequently, I'd hope you had something more specific to add. I know that there is limited shoulder space in areas, specifically on US 36 WB near the Diamond Shamrock. I know there are narrow shoulders on sections up the canyon on US 36 and on SH 7, but I'm looking for specifics of where the road biking community has concerns.

I personally don't have many problems till I get to the canyon. There are a couple of areas like the one you mentioned that could use a bike lane/ wider shoulder, but I've never had any problems there. A bike lane up the canyon like they did for Lefthand to Ward would be ideal.

// Who is we? You might get more response if you identified your group and asked for specific input on things you are aware might be a problem.

 

[IDEASWANTED]

I am a gov't employee who works with transportation issues. This is sort of a pet project of mine, and it isn't all that official. I do however have opportunities to do minor improvements and get to discuss serious issues as they arrise with the actual decision makers.

 

[TiBike]

Bike lanes...

Bike lanes seem so fundamental. Keeps cyclists and motorists happy. Keeps conflicts to a minimum. Probably not your area of jurisdiction but hwy 93 from Boulder to Golden has great stretches with bike lanes/giant shoulders and a few short stretches with absolutely nothing for bikes. Consequently, a potentially great route is genuinely dangerous (e.g., the stretch past Rocky Flats). It only requires filling in the gaps!! With a bike lane, a rider from Boulder could access Coal Creek Canyon, Golden Gate Canyon, Lookout Mtn, etc. OK, you were looking for the Lyons area but the bike lanes rant still holds!! And thanks for your effort in this!

 

[MikeBiker]

I avoid US 36 north of Lyons because it is narrow and heavily traveled by large SUVs and RVs. Widening US 36 to Apple Valley Road would be nice. It would be nice to have a climbing/bike lane for CO 7. My ears would appreciate it if you could do something about the unsilened motorcycles that free range around Lyons.

 

[Sledgehammer03]

Bike lanes everywhere, I mean how much more money can it cost? Put down a 6 foot wide strip of pavement in the ditch. You see it all around C-470, along I-70 in the mountains. Even if the shoulders were a little wider, how much more would it cost?

 

[redstone]

I'm looking for ideas of what you guys think are safety concerns for bicylists in the Lyons area of Colorado. Specifically on US 36 and SH 7. Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated.

Thanks for asking. I live in Lyons and ride these roads quite a bit. Others have made some great suggestions. Here are some more:

-Share the Road signage. really.

-The shoulders between the 36/66 interchange and the UPumpIt suck. Knock the curbs out and widen the shoulders.

-Crappy pavement at the eastern 36/Apple Valley junction

-The narrow slot canyon close to town just before Apple Valley on 36 is super dangerous. This corridor sees a ton of pedestrian usage, too. I know there has been talk of a bike path (seperate, with a divider) from town to Apple Valley. Anything you can do there would be huge.

-crappy pavement at the western junction of Old South and SH7.

-Shoulders as wide as possible on 7.

-SH7, past Hall Ranch, the road goes straight for a while, curves to the left, then hooks right. When it hooks to the right, the corner is blind because of the rock face on the right side. The shoulder is very wide here but the pavement is poor enough that you pretty much have to ride right up on the white line for anything resembling a smooth ride. From this point around the corner and down the hill, almost all the way to the SSV neighborhood sign, the shoulder has seen a lot of damage from falling rocks, etc. A shoulder repair/cleanup here would be great.\

Aside from all that, shoulders as wide as possible up and down 7 would be a great contribution. I realize that it would take some serious effort (ie blasting, etc) to make a full blown bike lane, but even a few inches makes a big difference. When they chip sealed, the shoulders shrunk by a couple inches in a lot of spots.

I know lots of folks lobbied against the centerline rumble strips outside of Denver in Deer Creek Canyon, but I've come to like them on SH7. It's a good auditory indicator of how much room a car is going to give you. If you hear the car and hear the rumble, it's a good thing. If the cars there and there is no rumble, better get over onto that non existant shoulder...