Colorado Real Estate Journal - November 19, 2014

DDP launches crowdfunding campaign for bike lane

The Downtown Denver Partnership launched a crowd-funding campaign to fund the full design of a new protected bike lane on the Arapahoe Street corridor in downtown Denver.

The announcement was made at the conclusion of the Creating a Bicycle City forum, a series of five-minute presentations from seven bike enthusiasts highlighting how Denver can create the top downtown for bicycling in the country.

Presentations highlighted the importance of creating a bicycle city and recent findings such as: The percent of people ages 16 to 24 with a driver’s license is now at its lowest since 1963; the number of protected bike lanes across the country has quadrupled in the last year; the bicycle industry in Colorado brings $1 billion to the state’s economy; and approximately 8,000 downtown Denver employees bike to work every day.

Before the forum concluded, Anadarko, who sponsored the forum, kicked off the crowd-funding campaign by pledging to donate $2,500. Several companies followed suit with pledges, including RedPeak Properties, iTriage, Valley Crest Design Group, HDR, GreenBox Self Storage and East West Partners.

“The Arapahoe Street protected bike lane campaign is a great way for businesses in downtown Denver that value bike-friendly infrastructure to help build our city’s bicycle network,” said Tami Door, president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership.

“Companies like Anadarko and our other initial donors will be critical in making this campaign a success” The partnership is hoping to raise at least $35,000 from the community to add to the $120,000 already donated by the Gates Family Foundation and the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District. The Arapahoe Street corridor was selected with input from the public and fulfills the city's need to enhance the network of protected bike lanes in downtown Denver.

Once the corridor has been fully designed, the city and county of Denver will begin the process of scheduling the construction of the corridor into its annual work plan and/or identify other funding sources to complete the corridor.

When completed, the Arapahoe Street protected bike lane will be the fourth protected bike lane in downtown Denver. The 15th Street protected bike lane opened in May and protected bike lanes on 14th and Lawrence streets currently are in design and scheduled to be completed in 2015.

The Downtown Denver Partnership is accepting corporate and individual donations toward the design of the Arapahoe Street protected bike lane now through Dec. 12.