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A bicycle boulevard, sometimes referred to as a neighborhood greenway, neighborway, neighborhood bikeway or neighborhood byway is a type of
bikeway Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except wh ...
composed of a low-speed street which has been "optimized" for bicycle traffic. Bicycle boulevards discourage cut-through motor-vehicle traffic but allow local motor-vehicle traffic. They are designed to give priority to bicyclists as through-going traffic. They are intended as a low-cost, politically popular way to create a connected network of streets with good bicyclist comfort and/or safety. Bicycle boulevards attempt to achieve several goals: * discouragement of non-local motor vehicle traffic; * low speed limits; * low motor-vehicle traffic volumes; * free-flow travel for bikes by assigning the right-of-way to the bicycle boulevard at
intersections In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their ...
wherever possible; *
traffic control Traffic management is a key branch within logistics. It concerns the planning control and purchasing of transport services needed to physically move vehicles (for example aircraft, road vehicles, rolling stock and watercraft) and freight. Traffi ...
to help bicycles cross major
arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector r ...
s; * a distinctive look and/or ambiance such that cyclists become aware of the existence of the bike boulevard and motorists are alerted that the street is a priority route for bicyclists; and, * enhanced environment due to the promotion of bicycle usage. These
bikeway Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except wh ...
design elements are intended to appeal to casual, risk-averse, inexperienced and younger bicyclists who would not otherwise be willing to cycle with motor vehicle traffic. Compared to a bike path or
rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetca ...
, a bicycle boulevard is also a relatively low-cost approach to appealing to a broader cycling demographic.


Features

A bicycle boulevard is generally marked with a sign at the beginning and the end of the bicycle boulevard. Also necessary for the road to be called a bicycle boulevard is coloring; in the Netherlands, the parts of the road where the cyclists ride on is marked in red (same color as used for segregated cycle facilities in the Netherlands). These sections of the road are called . Motorists also ride on this section, yet also have a non-colored part of the road which they can drive on with one half (two wheels) of the car when they wish to pass a cyclist. Bicycle boulevards may use a variety of traffic calming elements to achieve a safe environment. This makes it difficult for motorists to use the street at a high speed. However, they do not block access to motor vehicles completely (i.e. using bollards) which would designate the route as
segregated cycle facilities Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except whe ...
rather than a bicycle boulevard. Some bicycle boulevards have higher road surface standards than other residential streets, and encourage riders to use the full lane, encouraging parity between bicycles and motor vehicles.


Discouraging non-local motor vehicle traffic

Permeable barriers such as bollards are sometimes used to allow cycling traffic to continue through while diverting motorized traffic from using the street as a through street.


Locations

Road designs of bicycle boulevards can be found in the United States, Canada ( Vancouver, Saskatoon, Winnipeg), the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, France, Spain and New Zealand


United States

Bicycle boulevards can be found in a growing number of United States cities, including: *Arizona: Tucson *California: Palo Alto, Berkeley, Emeryville, San Jose,
San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Louis of Toulouse, St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state ...
,
Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporat ...
*Florida: Gainesville *Kansas: Manhattan *Minnesota: Minneapolis, Saint Paul *Missouri:
Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...
*New Mexico:
Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
*North Carolina: Wilmington *Oregon: Portland, Eugene, and Bend * Oklahoma:
Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
*Washington: Seattle *Wisconsin:
Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
Palo Alto established the first bicycle boulevard in the United States. It was named for Ellen Fletcher, a Holocaust survivor and one of America's first bike activists. In Berkeley, boulevards are mostly residential streets, but some sections pass through commercial areas. Generally, there are few cars on these streets, in large part because of the pre-existing traffic calming devices that slow and/or divert traffic. Bicycle boulevards may or may not have
bicycle lanes Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except w ...
. In Minneapolis, a grant from the federal government within the Non-Motorized Pilot Program helped to build a bike boulevard on Bryant Avenue and the planning of others. Similarly in
Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...
, the Non-Motorized Pilot Program project helped fund the first bike boulevard in Missouri along Ash and Windsor Streets. At least one other was planned. In Wilmington, help from a Fit Community 2009 grant through the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund enabled the City of Wilmington to construct North Carolina's first bicycle boulevard. The Ann Street Bicycle Boulevard runs from South Water Street to South 15th Street and serves as part of the much longer River to the Sea Bikeway, which connects downtown Wilmington to Wrightsville Beach. In Portland, a $600 million 20-year plan (2010–2030) has the goal of making 25 percent of trips in the city be by bicycle through the establishment of of new
bikeway Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except wh ...
s; one of the projects within the plan is to combine the work on street features that reduce stormwater runoff with the construction of
curb extension A curb extension (or also neckdown, kerb extension, bulb-out, bump-out, kerb build-out, nib, elephant ear, curb bulge, curb bulb, or blister) is a traffic calming measure which widens the sidewalk for a short distance. This reduces the crossing ...
s and other components of bicycle boulevards. In
Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
, a city with more than of on-street bicycle facilities and multi-use trails, the grand opening of the first bicycle boulevard in New Mexico was held on April 14, 2009. The bicycle boulevard runs from San Mateo Blvd SE, west along Silver Ave SE/SW to 14th St SW. It then continues north on 14th St to Mountain Rd NW. The last leg continues west on Mountain Rd NW to the Paseo del Bosque Recreation Trail which parallels the Rio Grande. In
Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
, the first full bicycle boulevard spans East Mifflin Street in Madisons Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood, a second spans the entire length of Kendall Avenue in University Heights and the Regent Neighborhood. In Seattle, the city is implementing a city-wide network of "Neighborhood Greenways". The work is being carried out with the aid and cooperation of the non-profit "Seattle Neighborhood Greenways".


US naming conventions

The City of
Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emery ...
, is credited with coining the phrase ''bicycle boulevard'' in the late 1980s, but not every jurisdiction has adopted this term. In November 2011, the City of
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...
began to use the term ''neighborways'' instead of bicycle boulevards. This added to a growing list of terms for bicycle boulevards since Portland has been calling them ''neighborhood greenways''; Seattle has followed the same convention. Other terms for bicycle boulevards in the US include: *Cyclestreets *Bike boulevards *Quiet streets *Neighborhood byways *Bicycle friendly streets *Bicycle friendly corridors *Bicycle parkways *Neighborhood parkways *Bicycle greenways


Netherlands

In the Netherlands, ' ('cycle streets') have a similar road design — although most residential streets in the Netherlands which do not have on-road bike lanes or segregated bike lanes would fit the American definition of bicycle boulevards. A can link dedicated bike-only paths, service roads, and other types of bike-friendly street configurations to complete a route. (Extensive information has been compiled about these facilities at the Pedal Portland blog and the Northeastern University webpage.) In Amsterdam for example, by 2005 about 40% of journeys were by bicycle and transport planners at the (Infrastructure Traffic and Transport Directorate) have adopted a bicycle policy that blends many different bike-friendly street designs such as segregated bicycle lanes, on-road bicycle lanes and ''fietsstraten''. The general concept is that cyclists can integrate relatively safely with vehicular traffic that is travelling at, or below, but that segregated bike lanes should be installed along roads with a higher speed limit. With these, and many other, bike-friendly policies in place, Amsterdam has the highest rate of cycling of any capital city in the world. Cycle streets are also on the rise in other cities within the country, including Utrecht.


Germany

In Germany a comparable road design is called ' ('bicycle road'), introduced into the Highway Code in 1997. Any other vehicles are prohibited unless marked with an additional sign.


Belgium

In Belgium, the ' (in Dutch/ Flemish) or (in
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
), was introduced into the Highway Code with effect from 13 February 2012. One had earlier been introduced in the ''Visserij'' in Ghent (Gent) in the summer of 2011. The first one in Brussels appeared in 2013 on a service road alongside
Avenue Louise The () or (Dutch) is a major thoroughfare in Brussels, Belgium. It is located in the southern part of the City of Brussels, on the border with the municipality of Ixelles, where it runs south–east from the to the Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kam ...
. The Open Street Map wiki and also th
several locations
on this subject may be of interest to reader.


Denmark

In Denmark, the first was opened in 2011 in
Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwes ...
. Since then cycle streets have been implemented in several cities across the country.


France

In France, the equivalent road design is called ('bike street') or ('cycle street'). The cities of Strasbourg (2017),
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...
(2018) and
Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlie ...
(2019) are among the first to test it out.


Spain

In Spain, cycle streets are known as .


New Zealand

In New Zealand, bicycle boulevards are generally designated as 'neighbourhood greenways', although
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about It ...
refers to them as local paths to avoid confusion with its off-road greenways network.
Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River ...
was the first city to implement a number of neighbourhood greenway sections as part of its Major Cycle Routes programme, including the Rapanui–Shag Rock Stage 1 through Linwood.


See also

* Outline of cycling *
Cycling infrastructure Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except ...
*
Shared lane marking A shared lane marking, shared-lane marking, or sharrow is a street marking installed at various locations worldwide, such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Spain, and the United States. This marking is placed in the travel lane to indicate where ...


References


Further reading

*Transportation Research Board (2017).
Neighborhood Greenways; Applications, Research & Effectiveness
'. * * * * * * * * *


External links


Portland’s Bike Boulevards Become Neighborhood Greenways
by
Streetfilms Open Plans is a non-profit that advocates for making the streets of New York City livable for all residents. Open Plans uses tactical urbanism, grassroots advocacy, policy and targeted journalism to promote structural reforms within city governm ...

Berkeley’s Bike Boulevards
by
Streetfilms Open Plans is a non-profit that advocates for making the streets of New York City livable for all residents. Open Plans uses tactical urbanism, grassroots advocacy, policy and targeted journalism to promote structural reforms within city governm ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bicycle Boulevard
Boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...
Types of roads Cycling infrastructure
Boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...
Boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...