Honolulu welcomes new protected bike lane
The City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Transportation Services is proud to announce the newest protected bicycle facility that runs along Ward Avenue. These bike facilities are the first directional protected bike lanes that run in both the mauka and makai directions (one lane on both sides) along Ward Avenue, between King Street and Ala Moana Boulevard. They connect to the King Street protected bikeway which takes bicyclists eastbound to Mōʻiliʻili or westbound to Honolulu’s Civic Center campus.
The Ward Avenue bike lanes connect the urban core with the commercial, retail, and residential destinations of Kaka‘ako. Residents and visitors will be able to take advantage of new connections to shopping, work, and play. Providing safe, protected bike lanes gives commuters more options to travel, without having to worry about parking or traffic congestion. Creating a network of comfortable bicycle facilities throughout Honolulu will reduce the dependence of personal motor vehicles, which will help reduce traffic congestion, travel times, pedestrian and vehicle collisions, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Following the installation of Honolulu’s first protected bikeway on South King Street in 2014, that corridor has experienced a 50% reduction in pedestrian-vehicle collisions. The King Street bikeway dramatically reduced the number of bicyclists riding on sidewalks and increased the awareness of drivers making turns. The City is anticipating similar safety benefits along Ward Avenue, in addition to improved visibility of all roadway users. The success of the King Street facility was followed by installation of the South Street protected bikeway in 2017, and the Pensacola protected bikeway in 2020. Additional protected bike lanes in Kaka‘ako and Downtown are proposed.
The Ward Avenue protected bike lane is part of the City’s commitment to creating Complete Streets to improve the safety of all roadway users. For more information on the Ward Avenue protected bike lane, please visit http://www.honolulu.gov/completestreets/urbancore.
