2005 Los Alamos County Bicycling Transportation System (aka "bike plan")

Thanks to many on the County Staff side, the 2005 Los Alamos County Bike Plan is now online. Text is below, the fancy maps can be downloaded with the pdf from the county link. Its on a "documents' page. I'll link directly to it on the sidebar "Useful Links"

================================================================

LOS ALAMOS COUNTY
BICYCLE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
(adopted unanimously by the Los Alamos County Council, May, 2005)

The Transportation Board recommends to Council that the following roads be adopted as
the Los Alamos County Bicycle Transportation System. Throughout this Bicycling
Transportation System, bicycling improvements (appropriate to each facility) should be
implemented when major maintenance, reconstruction, or construction is performed on
the roadway facilities included below.
Bicycling improvements should be appropriate to the type of roadway in question, such
as wider shoulders on highways or bike lanes on arterials (if possible); and should include
bicycle-friendly intersection improvements, uniform signing, and appropriate markings;
and should avoid the use of bicycle unfriendly infrastructure such as parallel gratings,
poorly placed rumble strips, or use of the gutter-pan as part of the travel lane. In addition
to improvements, appropriate preventative maintenance must continue to be performed
throughout the system such as routine sweeping, pothole patching, and snow removal.
Furthermore, the County should review the Bicycle Transportation System periodically to
ensure that any new developments are bicycle-friendly.
PRIORITY I
Arterials:
a. Diamond Drive from San Ildefonso Road to Omega Bridge.
b. Central Avenue from NM 502 to Rose Street.
c. Canyon Road from Rose Street to Diamond Drive.
d. Trinity Drive – East Road from Diamond Drive to Airport Road.
PRIORITY II
Major Collectors:
a. Arkansas Avenue and North Road.
b. Grand Canyon Drive.
c. Rover Boulevard and Meadow Lane.
d. San Ildefonso North from Diamond Drive to the end of Barranca Road.
e. San Ildefonso Road South from Diamond Drive to Sioux Street.
f. Thirty-eighth Street and Villa.
PRIORITY III
Minor Collectors:
a. Bryce Avenue.
b. Canyon Road from NM 502 to Central Avenue.
c. North Mesa Road.
d. Sherwood Boulevard.
e. Western Area Loop: Trinity Drive from Diamond Drive to 48th Street, 48th
Street to Sandia Drive, and Sandia Drive to Diamond Drive.
f. Urban from Diamond Drive to North Road.
Los Alamos County supports and promotes regional bicycle transportation and therefore,
encourages connectivity through adjoining jurisdictions. It is recognized that the County
does not own the following “Regional Connectors” listed below. That said, the County
should cooperate with neighboring government entities, to the extent possible, to develop
appropriate regional bicycling infrastructure.
REGIONAL CONNECTORS
Department of Transportation Roads:
a. NM State Road 4.
b. NM State Road 501.
c. NM State Road 502.
LANL Roads:
a. Pajarito Road.
b. East Jemez Road (Truck Route).
c. Diamond Drive from Omega Bridge to Pajarito Road.
d. Bikini Atoll Road from West Jemez Road to Mercury Road.
e. Mercury from Pajarito Road to Bikini Atoll Road.
f. West Road from Diamond Drive to NM 501.
Motion passed, 5-0.
(End of motion text)
Background
Several years ago, Los Alamos County tasked the Bicycle Subcommittee of the
Transportation Board to gauge citizen interest in bicycling and to recommend a bicycle
master plan to Council through the Transportation Board. As part of this task, the County
commissioned two polls to gauge interest in bicycling, especially as a form of
transportation, and to solicit input as to the kinds of bicycling improvements desired.
The results of these polls were encouraging. The 2002 Community Perception Study
(Research and Polling, Inc.) indicated that 10% of respondents rode to work or school
more than 50 times per year and another 9% rode between 6 and 50 times per year. This
number compares favorably with bicycling-friendly communities such as Gainesville,
Florida; Eugene, Oregon; Boulder, Colorado; and Madison, Wisconsin (FHWA-PD-92-
041).
A second survey “County-Wide Bike Survey Findings” was commissioned by the
County, sent by county mailing, and tabulated by the Bicycle Subcommittee. Drawing
from 1000 questionnaire responses from households representing all age and
neighborhood groups, the Bike Survey found that there is a strong desire for safe and
favorable bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure throughout Los Alamos County. Over
two-thirds of the respondents favor some combination of on-road and off-road bicycling
improvements. Safety concerns were by far the greatest response noted by both
recreational and commuter bikers with Diamond Drive, Trinity Drive, and Pajarito Road
being cited as particularly dangerous routes.
Drawing on these polls, numerous public meetings and internal deliberations regarding
the best match of Los Alamos’ infrastructure with our desire to provide safe and efficient
bicycling as transportation, the Bicycle Subcommittee submitted its recommendations,
unanimously, to the full Transportation Board for consideration at its April 2005 meeting.
The above motion is the Transportation Board’s motion regarding bicycle routings. Our
mission is simple: that our transportation system should connect cyclists from their
homes to their destinations (schools, downtown, place of employment) in a bicycling
friendly manner. Therefore, these routes were chosen to connect residential communities
to destinations. Particular attention was taken to improving collectors and arterials (and
to the extent possible, encourage regional connectivity on State and LANL routes) since
these often have high traffic flows and sometimes lack shoulders or bike lanes. Equally
important, we focused on roads surrounding our schools (approximately within a one
mile radius for non-bused children) in order to address “Safe Routes to School” concerns.