May is National Bike Month, and few communities embrace cycling culture quite like Durango.
We host world-class races. We celebrate Iron Horse season like a civic holiday. We decorate the “Endurance” cyclist sculptures with Santa hats, bunny ears and firefighter gear. We’ve repeatedly earned Gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community recognition from the League of American Bicyclists.
And yet, anyone who rides regularly in Durango knows that biking here can still feel dangerous.
Within two months, vehicles crashed into the “Endurance” sculptures at the Florida Road roundabout twice. The first incident involved an allegedly impaired driver who destroyed three of the five cyclists. The second crash, involving a 90-year-old driver cited for careless driving, damaged one of the two remaining sculptures (Herald, May 13).
City officials have called the crashes flukes. Two crashes into a roundabout sculpture over 14 years are statistically unusual.
But they also symbolize something larger: how vulnerable cyclists are when sharing roads with thousands of pounds of steel moving too fast.
Whether the answer is subtle protections at the roundabout that do not take away from the sculptures, or slower speeds and better infrastructure citywide, the larger message remains the same:
Slow down. Put the phone away. Don’t drink and drive. Pay attention.
Drivers and cyclists alike must respect traffic laws and share public spaces safely. Cyclists should wear reflective gear, use lights at night and use Colorado’s legal safety stop responsibly.
That message applies beyond city streets to the increasingly congested Animas River Trail, where cyclists, runners, walkers, families and dogs share limited space. Complaints about cyclists traveling too fast, failing to signal and passing carelessly have become increasingly common.
Durango’s roads are shared spaces used by commuters, families, pedestrians and cyclists training for the May 23 Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. Drivers should expect more riders on local roads and give them extra space. Good luck to all the riders preparing for this year’s race.
Durango’s Multimodal Division is advancing projects designed to calm traffic and improve safety. The College Drive and Eighth Avenue traffic-calming project will reduce lanes from four to three and add bike lanes, along with updated traffic signals.
The city’s Speed Management Plan is also nearing completion, with demonstration projects planned this spring on Riverview Drive and Goeglein Gulch Road to test strategies for reducing speeding.
Bike Durango notes that although bicycling participation is high locally, many residents still primarily drive because they do not feel safe biking. Residents also gave high marks to walking and bicycling in the city’s recent transportation survey, though ratings for bicycling declined slightly from 2023. That should concern everyone, especially as Durango prepares to host the 2030 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.
Projects like the Camino Crossing and the Animas River Trail extension toward Three Springs should be completed before Durango hosts the 2030 championships.
The solution is not anti-car rhetoric. Most residents drive. Many cyclists drive, too. This is about balance in a growing community facing congestion, parking pressures and increased demand on roads and trails.
Protected bike lanes, safer crossings and connected trails benefit everyone, including drivers.
The Herald’s editorial board has come to accept the need for paid parking on Saturdays downtown. The idea deserves serious consideration. Parking revenue already supports transportation services and multimodal programs. Expanding that funding stream could help accelerate long-discussed safety projects.
Residents can help shape those priorities by attending council meetings, participating in budget discussions and contacting city councilors or transportation staff directly.
Bike Durango and Strong Towns advocates also deserve credit for continuing to push for safer streets through outreach, temporary bike lane demonstrations and public engagement during Bike Month.
The city’s June 17 Clean Commute Day will promote alternatives to driving.
Perhaps drivers cited for aggressive driving, rolling coal or dangerous behavior toward cyclists should be required to commute by bicycle in Durango traffic for a period of time.
Perspective changes quickly when there is no metal frame surrounding you.
A true bike town is not measured by race weekends or branding.
It is measured by whether ordinary people and children feel safe enough to ride every day.
