Even before the bikeways plan (WARNING: huge .pdf) is totally implemented (will take a decade) we already have a number of bike friendly roads. If only the city would publicize this with maps and signs.DowntownBikeMap

Page 13 has a map seen above (Wait a minute, the solid red lines are existing shared roadways? I must have missed all of the huge “Bicycle Boulevard” stenciling and signs all over Summit, 4th, Neil, etc and I just noticed High St is going to get no treatment and will remain an “Undesignated Roadway”; looks it’s time for us to be the squeaky wheel, i.e. nag persistently.) of what they’re going to do downtown; lots of bike lanes. I’d rather have them all be shared roads like what they’re going to do with Town and where they want to put bike lanes make them shared roads in addition to bike lanes so that those of us who don’t want to use them don’t have to, but if you do there they are. Isn’t that a good compromise for the cycling community? Now let’s look at what Madison has:
“Guide to the Madison Map for Bicyclists
Detailed explanation of symbols

The Madison Map for Bicyclists shows two levels of information about Madison’s streets to help bicyclists choose their preferred routes
between points in the urban area.

First, there is information about types of streets and special facilities for bicyclists. What streets you choose to use will depend upon your skill and confidence level for bicycling in traffic, as well as your origin and destination.

Local or neighborhood streets primarily provide access to homes. These streets have low volumes of traffic and slow
speeds. Local streets do not need any special accommodations for bicyclists. Many bicyclists, however, find local streets inconvenient for longer trips due to frequent stops or circuitous routes.

Collector and arterial streets suitable for most bicyclists, but without any special facilities for bicyclists. Collector streets connect the neighborhood streets to the main streets. Collector streets have higher volumes of traffic and higher speeds than local streets, but generally are acceptable to most bicyclists without
the need for special facilities.

Arterial streets are the main routes through the city. Arterials carry the heaviest volumes and highest speeds of traffic. Arterials are also the major truck routes through the city. Many bicyclists do not feel comfortable riding on arterial streets unless special accommodations for bicyclists have been made on that street.”

Map Legend (in .pdf format, sorry)

Map (more .pdf, again my apologies)

(bolded and italicized by me)

So what I want to know when I go to the next Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting on December 19th, 4:00PM (they meet every other month so I’ll double check) is why we don’t have maps of similar streets over here. These are the ones that we should have been focusing on since these are the cheapest to make friendly for bikes since they already are! I know when I get tired of High I’ll go down Dennison. Then Downtown there’s Gay and Washington which are easy with lower amounts of traffic. Why streets like these haven’t been promoted for cycling I just don’t know. We have the streets, they just need some publicity.