Arguing the Merits of Protected Bike Lanes in Denver

The city of Denver is preparing to implement a reconfiguration of Broadway and Lincoln corridor. David Sachs describes the scope of the project:

Denver Public Works, backed by elected officials, will install avtwo-way, parking-protected bike lane on four blocks of Broadway next month — a temporary measure intended to lay the groundwork for a permanent bikeway between I-25 and Colfax. Broadway and its northbound counterpart, Lincoln, would both receive more effective bus lanes and safer pedestrian crossings as part of the project.

Yet, Neil Westergaard, editor of the Denver Business Journal, recently wrote an editorial critiquing the project [paywall], describing it, among other things, as "politically dead on arrival." He compares the project to a project in Boulder to add protected bike lanes on a section of Folsom Street. Boulder abandoned that project after two months "because of outcry from Boulder motorists." According to Westergaard, "If this idea can’t fly in Boulder, I doubt it can grow wings in Denver."

Westergaard's arguments don't sit with Sachs, who offers a detailed rebuttal, citing the case made by Denver Public Works about the inefficiency of Broadway, the support of the business community for the project, and some lessons from Copenhagen.