These Are the Best New Bike Lanes in the U.S.—Is There One Near You?
Each year, thanks largely to endless hours of advocacy and grassroots work, bike lanes get built throughout the United States. Some of these infrastructure projects are smaller puzzle pieces to complete larger networks, and some are necessary protection on busy corridors a long time in the making.
Martina Haggerty, senior director of local innovation at People For Bikes, says that one of the things the organization looks for in picking the projects to feature in its annual “Best of” list is an all-ages and abilities facility—infrastructure that will help a larger portion of the population, not just bike commuters and recreational cyclists.
“More and more we’re trying to push toward and reflect what communities are doing long-term,” Haggerty told Bicycling. “And that’s replacing interim solutions for protected bike lanes with more permanent, robust, protective solutions like jersey barriers.”
Another thing that Haggerty looks for in creating the list is diversity in terms of the size of the community. “We want to have smaller cities and larger cities reflected. We don’t want every example to be San Francisco or New York City because that’s not relatable for a lot of communities across the country.”
She also takes geographic diversity into consideration, in an effort to show that cohesive infrastructures is useful and important everywhere. “We have examples of different community sizes and different sorts of community cultures as they’re reflected in regions throughout the country.”
And it’s not a pre qualifier for a project to appear on the list, but if a new project is solving an old problem—a dangerous intersection or a place that has notoriously been deadly, that’s an added bonus.
Haggerty gathers data and notes on projects that are happening throughout the year, and then chooses the most significant projects at the end of the year. For 2023, she chose 20 new bike lanes and infrastructure projects to highlight.
“I found that a lot of the most successful projects are multimodal,” Haggerty said. “Meaning, they’re not just a bike lane, or a cycle track. They’re part of a project working to beautify an area—making for a better overall streetscape.” These projects also usually involve adding lighting, trees, landscaping, and doing things to help with stormwater runoff. They improve bus stops, and improve the whole area. “When you’re doing something that involves more people, you’re broadening your advocacy base. You’re bringing more people into advocating for that particular project and ultimately getting it funded and built. And I think that's the key to success for a lot of these places.”
Best New U.S. Bike Lanes of 2023
1. Broadway | New York City, New York
2. 156th Street Cycle Track | Redmond, Washington
3. 300 West | Salt Lake City, Utah
4. Inman Square | Cambridge, Massachusetts
5. Bryant Avenue South | Minneapolis, Minnesota
6. Union Street | Pasadena, California
7. Baseline Road | Boulder, Colorado
8. Pinellas Bayway South | Tierra Verda, Florida
9. East Main Street | Rochester, New York
10. Avenue B | San Antonio, Texas
11. Salem Avenue | Dayton, Ohio
12. 12th Avenue South | Nashville, Tennessee
13. Turner Avenue | Grand Rapids, Michigan
14. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive | Atlanta, Georgia
15. Main Street | Agawam, Massachusetts
16. 17th Street | Santa Monica, California
17. Meadowbrook Road | Jackson, Mississippi
18. Belmont Avenue | Chicago, Illinois
19. West Marginal Way SW | Seattle, Washington
20. North Manhattan Avenue | Manhattan, Kansas
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