A massive transportation authority in Idaho is promising to build protected bike lanes whenever they resurface the most dangerous multi-lane roads in its region. Idaho’s ‘Ada County Highway District’ announced that it would no longer build paint-on-the-ground cycling “infrastructure” on arterial roads, prioritizing separated bike lanes or buffered multi-use paths instead.

That commitment is unusual for any American transportation agency, but it’s a particularly rare for a large regional agency that oversees roads in six predominantly suburban communities where over 80% of commuters drive alone to work (the national average is roughly 76%).

The agency also recently announced that they’re changing how they measure the performance of roads under its jurisdiction, de-emphasizing the endless increase of “Level of Service” (LoS) for drivers and instead prioritizing safety for other modes. Critically, the new guidelines will set new LoS thresholds that make it perfectly acceptable for drivers to undergo more delay than currently if it makes other road users safer.

For more information, see:
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2021/06/29/the-newest-bike-friendly-county-in-the-u-s-is-in-suburban-idaho/