--- title: "Protected Bike Lane / Cycle Track" url: "https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/elements/protected-bike-lane-cycle-track/" id: "ELM-PBL-37" description: "A bike facility physically separated from adjacent vehicle traffic by a barrier, curb, parked cars, bollards, or planters, rather than paint markings alone, providing the highest level of separation among on-street bike facility types." updated: "2026-09-26" --- # Protected Bike Lane / Cycle Track `ELM-PBL-37` Recommended Element Protected Bike Lane / Cycle Track A bike facility physically separated from adjacent vehicle traffic by a barrier, curb, parked cars, bollards, or planters, rather than paint markings alone, providing the highest level of separation among on-street bike facility types. ## 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 ### [Are Streets Too Complicated Now?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Xs5EA5_uU) City Beautiful Asks whether today's proliferation of lines, signals, and lane types on streets is overcomplication or a needed response to modern demands, a question that runs directly through CS's Element-scale catalog and the density-tiered Corridor retrofit paths this video is tagged to. Aligned ### [Dutch-style intersection design: bike-friendly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCzi1Q4xCTA) BicycleDutch Shows the protected-intersection design vocabulary, continuous cycle tracks, corner refuge islands, separated signal phasing, that underpins CS's Protected Intersection pattern and the Corridor retrofit paths built around it. Aligned ### [The Bike Lanes You Can't See - Ontvlechten](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1l75QqRR48) Not Just Bikes The video explains ontvlechten, the Dutch practice of disentangling car and bicycle traffic into separate hierarchical networks. It is a worked example of the Commonway System's cycling facilities and network patterns, showing how filtered permeability keeps bike routes safe and direct. Aligned ### [Roundabout with safe cycling facilities (Netherlands)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VapKuLqJ9M) BicycleDutch A visual tour of a Dutch roundabout built with protected cycling facilities. It serves as a real-world reference for the Commonway System's roundabout and protected cycling intersection patterns. Context only ### [Rolling out a red carpet for cyclists (Netherlands)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaE4KOZzQOg) BicycleDutch The video shows the red-asphalt surfacing the Netherlands uses to mark and protect cycle paths. It illustrates the kind of legible, dedicated cycling facility described in the Commonway System's bike lane and greenway patterns. Counterexample ### [These Intersections Should Be Illegal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGoV74jtE3Q) Streetcraft The video analyzes four badly designed American intersections, including an awkward roundabout and highway ramps that strand bike lanes. It is a cautionary companion to the Commonway System's intersection and cycling patterns, showing what failure looks like. Aligned ### [Bike lanes are not good enough](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p36skNda3KE) City Beautiful The video argues that painted bike lanes fail and shows what works instead: cycle tracks, protected intersections, advisory lanes, plus a road-diet case study. It makes the case for the protected cycling facilities the Commonway System's bike patterns specify. Aligned ### [Why protected bike lanes are more valuable than parking spaces](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E85HMNJix_o) Vox The video uses New York's 9th Avenue parking-protected bike lane to show that trading parking for protected cycling improves safety and even retail sales. It is evidence for the Commonway System's parking-lane reallocation retrofit strategy. Aligned ### [How Expanding Bike Lanes Can Actually Decrease Traffic - Cheddar Explains](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN-tSpQZmYk) Cheddar The video cites New York DOT data showing protected bike lanes cut injuries while holding vehicle travel times steady. It supplies the measured results behind the Commonway System's protected bike lane guidance. Aligned ### [Urban Bikeway Design Guide: Protected Bike Lanes](https://nacto.org/latest/urban-bikeway-design-guide-protected-bike-lanes/) NACTO This excerpt from NACTO's Urban Bikeway Design Guide covers protected bike lane design, safety evidence, and applicability thresholds. It is the technical companion to the Commonway System's protected bike lane element. Aligned ### [Fabulous Ferndale (Ep 436)](https://theoverheadwire.com/2023/06/unedited-podcast-transcript-436-fabulous-ferndale/) The Overhead Wire Ferndale, Michigan's mayor describes the city's road diet of eight-lane Woodward Avenue and the practical politics of working with the state DOT. It is a practitioner-level case study for the Commonway System's road diet strategies. Aligned ### [A Network First Approach (Ep 349)](https://www.activetowns.org/2026/07/24/a-network-first-approach/) Active Towns Podcast The episode lays out a "Network First" strategy for building complete, high-comfort bike networks quickly on low-stress streets. It covers the network build-out thinking behind the Commonway System's cycling facility patterns. ## Why this pattern exists Physical separation removes the reliance on driver behavior and paint compliance that lower-tier bike facilities depend on, making cycling comfortable and accessible to a much broader range of riders, including children and less-confident adults, the core goal of an all-ages-and-abilities bike network.[1] This pattern exists to document the design considerations specific to physical separation. ## Key considerations - Intersection and driveway conflict points require particular design attention, since physical separation that continues uninterrupted mid-block can create visibility conflicts at any break in that separation - Should be the aspirational default treatment on higher-speed or higher-volume corridors where cycling is intended to be a viable, comfortable option for a broad range of riders - Maintenance access (snow removal, sweeping) needs to be planned for within a physically separated facility, since standard vehicle-lane equipment may not fit - Minimum rideable width is 6.5–7 ft (2–2.1 m) for a one-way facility, with 8–12.5 ft (2.5–3.8 m) preferred where volume supports side-by-side riding or passing.[2] Buffer width must be at least 3 ft (0.9 m) where adjacent to on-street parking, to clear the door-swing zone, or 2–3 ft (0.6–0.9 m) on streets without parking at 30 mph or below.[2] ## Related patterns [Buffered Bike Lane](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/elements/buffered-bike-lane.md) (ELM-BBL-35), [Conventional Bike Lane](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/elements/conventional-bike-lane.md) (ELM-CBL-34) (lower-separation alternatives); [Bicycle Signal](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/elements/bicycle-signal.md) (ELM-BCS-16) (a common companion treatment at intersections) ## Getting there: Retrofit path options This Element is the direct product of all three protected bike lane retrofits: 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), and via [parking reduction](https://commonwaysystem.org/retrofits/corridor/protected-bike-lane-parking-reduction.md) (RFT-CDR-09). ## References 1. Evidence-based [Lusk, A.C. et al. (2011), "Risk of injury for bicycling on cycle tracks versus in the street," _Injury Prevention_ 17(2). Montreal study: 28% lower injury rate on cycle tracks compared to comparable streets.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21307080/) 2. Precedent-based [NACTO, _Urban Bikeway Design Guide_, 3rd Ed., "Protected Bike Lanes." Design specifications.](https://nacto.org/publication/urban-bikeway-design-guide/designing-bikeways-for-all-ages-and-abilities/protected-bike-lanes/)