The recommendations are for the Beaver Street portion of the separated bike lane pilot to receive minor modifications to improve operations and then continue to be monitored and evaluated for effectiveness. 

The Butler Avenue portion of the separated bike lane pilot project should be modified from a parking curb separated configuration to a buffered bike lane configuration.  Buffered bike lanes on Butler Avenue are consistent with the short term planning for Butler Avenue and other space constrained major streets as outlined in the Bikeways Master Plan / Active Transportation Master Plan. 

Additionally staff recommends that the buffered bike lane configuration be extended from the current terminus at Sawmill to the East to the intersection of Ponderosa Parkway.  This buffered bike lane extension can be a first phase of the upcoming First Mile and Last Mile grant project that is a part of FY 22/23 capital improvements program.

In November 2021, the City installed separated bicycle lanes and additional green pavement markings along the Butler Avenue and Beaver Street corridors with the purpose of testing the operation and maintenance of a vertical separation between bicycles and vehicles, while also improving bicyclist safety and increasing bicyclist ridership.
 
This project was funded through the Pedestrian and Bicycle portion of the City’s Transportation Sales Tax.  Butler Avenue construction cost $513,000, and Beaver Street construction cost $269,382 for a total construction cost of $782,382.

Transportation staff have prepared a Separated Bicycle Lanes - Butler and Beaver Pilot Project report to document this pilot program.  The report documents the following major steps of the pilot program:

• Project development and construction
• Benefits of separated bike lanes
  • Can help make bicycling a more comfortable option for more types of cyclists
  • Can benefit vehicles and pedestrians as well as cyclists through the increased separation between user types
  • Separated facilities are typically preferred by cyclists over traditional bike lanes
  • Are an important component of an overall low stress bikeways network
• Data Analysis
  • Crash data
  • Bike and Vehicle volumes and speeds
• Stakeholder Input
  • City Public Works
  • City Parks
  • City Risk Management
  • City Solid Waste
  • City Fire
  • City Police
  • Flagstaff Unified School District
  • Mountain Line
• Survey Results broken down into four main categories
  • Driver and cyclist experience with separated bike lanes
  • General thoughts and comments
  • Rating of different types of bike facilities
  • Bicyclist experience / or rider type
• Conclusions and Recommendations
  • Beaver Street - minor modifications and continue to monitor
  • Butler Avenue - modify to buffered bike lanes and extend treatment to Ponderosa Parkway