Quote:
Originally Posted by DenverDave
Can anyone come up with an argument why there should not be 24/7 dedicated bus lanes on 15th and 17th streets and why that couldn't have been done already?
Also, it was brilliantly planned to tear up and repave every street downtown over the past two summers without adding any new bus or bike lanes and then afterwards perform a design study. DPW clearly missed an opportunity there.
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You just read a good comment as to why.
Interestingly I thought about tackling the topic of generic, dedicated lanes but guess what? I couldn't (easily) find anything to write about because they're a rather rare bird - unless you're referring to a specific BRT route.
For starters, life really isn't as simple as a Streetsblog fantasy or wish.
In recent years there has been a number of cities which have added BRT or Bus Rapid Transit and typically they will have some percentage of dedicated lanes on their routes. Usually it will be in the downtown/core area but that's one street, one route. For example, that's what is being planned for East Colfax and that is turning into a multi-decade challenge it seems. It obviously isn't so easy. With respect to So Broadway in Denver, because it's a one-way street and there were a lot of lanes, it was easier to make that specific adjustment but working with the whole downtown grid is a whole other kettle of fish.
Perhaps
Cirrus can add some knowledge on this topic.
Seattle is the one city that comes to mind and while I'd have to revisit the history, IIRC this has been rolled out over a number of years. They started with a few blocks on one street, then added a 2nd street etc. As previously stated Seattle has well over twice the (bus) density downtown as Denver.
Afaik, even the largest traditional transit cities don't have generic dedicated lanes but my lack of knowledge may be a thing. I believe Boston is only now planning or starting that. Most cities have relied on some form of rail transit for moving lots of people when it comes to transit while buses use the same lanes as everybody else.
That's just the Way it Is.