A separated bike lane, also known as a protected bike lane, is defined by the Federal Highway Administration as “an exclusive facility for bicyclists that is located within or directly adjacent to the roadway and that is physically separated from motor vehicle traffic with a vertical element." 

Because they are physically separated from vehicular traffic, separated bike lanes can contribute to increased bicycling volumes by appealing to less-confident riders who may not feel comfortable riding a bicycle directly adjacent to a moving vehicle. They can also improve overall safety on the roadway in the following ways:

• Increasing motorists’ awareness of the bicycle facility.

• Preventing improper use of the bike lane as a turning, acceleration, or parking lane.

• Reducing vehicle speeds by visually narrowing the roadway.

Lakewood installed the city’s first separated bike lanes in 2024 on Denver West Parkway, Garrison Street between Jewell and Alameda avenues, and a small section of Harlan Street near Alameda Avenue. These lanes utilize plastic curbs and posts as the vertical element separating the bike lane from the roadway as shown in the image above, with the exception of a short segment of Garrison Street south of Mexico Avenue where parked vehicles serve as the separating element.

2026 installations

City Council has approved funding for two different separated bike lane projects in conjunction with annual repaving operations in spring 2026:

1st Avenue – Parking-Protected Bike Lane (Garrison Street to Dover Street)

Between Garrison Street and Dover Street, the existing combination bike/parking lane on the south side of the road will be removed and replaced with a buffered (double white line) bike-only lane. The bike/parking lane on the north side will remain, but the bike and parking lanes will switch places so that the bike lane is adjacent to the curb and the parking lane serves as a separation between the bike lane and the rest of the road. The resulting configuration is shown in the diagram below:

The parking lane on the south side of the road will be removed based on several parking occupancy counts conducted by transportation staff showing that the on-street parking is consistently underutilized. Additionally, the north side of the road gets more sun and will pose fewer maintenance challenges than a parking-protected bike lane on the south side of the road would have posed for plowing and sweeping the bike lanes.

For more information about parking-protected bike lanes, please visit the FAQ near the bottom of this page.

In addition to improving safety for people who bicycle on 1st Ave, especially those who ride their bikes to nearby schools, this project is part of implementing the recommendations in the newly updated Lakewood Bicycle Plan that City Council adopted in 2025.

1st Avenue – Advisory Bike Lane (Dover Street to Carr Street)

Between Dover Street and Carr Street, no on-street parking will be removed due to operational constraints related to student drop-off and pick-up at South Lakewood Elementary School. Instead, the existing shared bike/parking lane will be marked with a dashed line between the bike lane and the parking lane to serve as an “advisory bike lane.” This allows bicyclists to ride in the parking lane when it is empty and cross into the bike lane as necessary without needing to cross a solid line. Motorists are encouraged to continue parking as close to the curb as possible to allow bicyclists space to maneuver without needing to encroach into the travel lane.

Estes Street – Separated Bike Lane (Morrison Road to Hampden Avenue)

The existing bike lanes on Estes Street between Morrison Road and the Hampden Avenue frontage road will be restriped in spring 2026 as buffered bike lanes (with a double white stripe between the bike lane and the travel lane). The buffered bike lanes will then be upgraded later in 2026 to separated bike lanes with the installation of plastic curbing and posts in the buffer zone between the bike lane and the travel lane. The resulting separated bike lanes will look and function similar to those on Garrison Street north of Jewell Avenue.

While roadway operations on Estes Street will not change where the existing bike lane is being upgraded to a separated bike lane, city staff determined that the current center turning lane near Cornell Avenue and Bear Creek Drive meets engineering design standards for removal as part of this project. As a result, this turning lane will be removed and replaced with segments of left-turn only lanes. This will allow for a continuous bicycle facility within the existing roadway, completing a gap that has existed for decades on one of the city’s most highly traveled bike routes.