CalBike Insider: Design Guidance on Class IV Bikeways
Caltrans issues Design Information Bulletins (DIBs) that set the parameters for specific types of facilities on the state highway network. DIB-89 provides guidance on how to build Class IV bikeways. Class IV lanes are on-street bikeways separated from car traffic by some type of physical barrier. CalBike’s analysis of Caltrans data found that, although protected bikeways have been legal in California since 2015, Caltrans added almost no Class IV lane miles between 2018 and 2023.
Caltrans first issued DIB-89 in 2018 and updated it in 2022. It’s now preparing to do another update of this design guidance. Later this month, the California Walk and Bike Technical Advisory Committee (CWBTAC), which advises Caltrans on matters related to active transportation, will have an opportunity to provide feedback on DIB-89 to inform revision later this year. Kendra Ramsey, CalBike’s executive director, sits on the CWBTAC, so we will be able to comment. We are working on our own comments, but want our supporters to have an opportunity to weigh in as well.
DIB-89 is important because it will govern how Caltrans implements Class IV bikeways, which are the safest on-street bikeways and proven to reduce injuries for all road users. Often, local agencies also look to Caltrans guidance to inform how they construct facilities on local roads. The design guidance could encourage or discourage the use of Class IV lanes, depending on how it’s written.
This is very deep in the weeds, but we don’t think that only traffic engineers should weigh in on something that could have a profound impact on how we all get around. We’ve put the current version of DIB-89 into our Google Drive and opened it for comments. We invite you to read it and add comments by June 23 so we can read them before the meeting. CalBike wants to bring as much feedback as possible to the CWBTAC meeting at the end of this month, so we are happy to hear what you think should be changed.
