Description

Separated bicycle lanes (aka “cycle tracks” and “protected bicycle lanes”) are an exclusive facility for bicyclists that is separated from motor vehicle traffic and pedestrians. Separated bicycle lanes are a fixture of bicycle networks in many countries with high rates of cycling and interest in and construction of separated bicycle lanes is growing in Minnesota and across the country. The release of the FHWA’s “Separated Bike Lane Planning and Design Guide” provides design guidance but also allows for flexibility in design that would benefit from additional discussion. This course will address planning, design, safety, and operations concerns of separated bicycle lanes and protected intersections based on the FHWA’s newly released design guidance and other resources such as MassDOTs “Separated Bike Lane Planning and Design Guide”. The class will include:

• Identification of planning-level guidelines to determine need and type of bicycle facilities to include in road design 
• Tools available for safety analysis of separated bicycle lanes and the limitations of those tools;
• Designing separated bicycle lanes around features such as bus stops, driveways, etc.;
• General intersection design and operations;
• Protected intersection design and operations.