---
title: "Bike Highway / Greenway"
url: "https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/collectors/bike-highway-greenway/"
id: "COL-BHG-04"
description: "A Collector-scale Typology providing a dedicated, physically separated bicycle path, distinct from Local's shared-roadway Bicycle Boulevard."
updated: "2026-09-26"
---

# Bike Highway / Greenway

`COL-BHG-04`

Recommended Collector

Bike Highway / Greenway

A dedicated, physically separated bicycle path operating at Collector scale, prioritizing continuous, higher-speed bicycle through-movement over other modes.

## Related Media

The items below come from outside the Commonway System, external videos, podcasts, and articles related to this page's topic, not part of the guidebook itself.

Aligned

### [South Carolina's Freeway for Bikes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxGYs8kHxw4)

Road Guy Rob

The Swamp Rabbit Trail's rail-to-trail history and its treatment as genuine transportation infrastructure, plus the Travelers Rest Main Street road diet that reallocated car lanes to parking and bike parking.

Typical at: Undeveloped Rural Suburban Compact Urban

Core is an edge case, since a dedicated separated path competes for limited right-of-way with other demands at the highest density tier.

## Modal hierarchy

Modal hierarchy

Bicycle > Pedestrian > Transit > Vehicle > Freight

An override justified because the Typology's stated purpose is dedicated bicycle through-movement. Design Speed & Speed Limits doesn't apply here, since this pattern excludes automobiles entirely.

## Design notes

Distinct from Local's Bicycle Boulevard, which shares the roadway with calmed vehicle traffic, this Typology is physically separated infrastructure, closer in function to a linear park path or a rail-trail than to a shared street. It is realistic across nearly the full density range, since a separated path is not dependent on the surrounding street grid the way a shared-roadway Typology is.[1]

## Related patterns

[Bicycle Boulevard / Neighborhood Greenway](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/local-streets/bicycle-boulevard.md) (LOC-BBG-12) (explicitly distinguished on this page: shared calmed roadway vs. this pattern's physical separation), [Multi-Use Trail / Greenway](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/collectors/multi-use-trail-greenway.md) (COL-MUT-06) (a similarly-named Collector-scale pattern this one is specifically distinct from)

## Getting there: Retrofit path options

[Protected bike lane retrofit via lane-width reallocation](https://commonwaysystem.org/retrofits/corridor/protected-bike-lane-width-reallocation.md) (RFT-CDR-07), via [lane removal](https://commonwaysystem.org/retrofits/corridor/protected-bike-lane-lane-removal.md) (RFT-CDR-08), via [parking reduction](https://commonwaysystem.org/retrofits/corridor/protected-bike-lane-parking-reduction.md) (RFT-CDR-09)

## References

1.  Precedent-based [CROW, _Design Manual for Bicycle Traffic_, English ed. (2016), Ch. 4.5 "Bicycle highways."](https://crowplatform.com/product/design-manual-for-bicycle-traffic/)