Safety Cited as a Key Benefit
The Jackson Town Council voted unanimously to utilize bollards again this summer to encourage bicycle usage as a core element of transportation in the Town of Jackson. The bollards are used to create bike only lanes on select streets through town to help enable safer bike routes and avoid bike-car altercations. The bollards will provide safe routes, funneling bicycles to specific routes, thereby encouraging greater bicycle and e-bike ridership. The routes will run as last year, from Snow King Avenue to the Highway 89 pathway north of town, with connections to Snow King Resort, Phil Baux Park, Jackson Elementary, the Rec Center and downtown.
The unanimous vote came despite opposition from the business community who fear the bollards will reduce available auto parking which will hurt business in Town. A petition last summer cited 150 parking spaces lost to the bollards.
Two Town Councilors, Jessica Sell Chambers and Jim Rooks cited being hit while on a bicycle as impetus for their vote.
The Town used time lapse photography on Willow and Simpson to measure traffic on two days, one in June and the other in July. The cameras measured more than 600 bike trips daily at the intersection, though some neighbors disputed that number. There were also comments that e-bikes are often seen on the trails.
The Conservation Alliance, in our Transportation Study, acknowledged that increased use of bicycles, including e-bikes, and pathways, provides a way to ease traffic congestion in Jackson Hole in the summer Highway 22 and other thoroughfares. As summer approaches, we hope riders can demonstrate the promise that increased bicycle use can lessen congestion on the roads.
We support the Town’s efforts to maintain safety in town, while they encourage bicycles and e-bikes as alternatives to single occupancy vehicles for workers, residents and visitors.
