3rd Street Bike Lanes • The Data
Downtown Phoenix Needs a Safe North-South Bike Route
BIKE LANES IMPROVE ROAD SAFETY
Installing bike lanes makes the street safer for all road users. We analyzed data for 3rd Street between Roosevelt and Indian School, before and after the bike lanes were installed. We found that crashes were reduced by more than 50%. There have also been zero fatalities or serious injuries among all road users.
The reduction in crashes is across all types of crashes, including those only involving vehicles.
From 2017 to 2019, there was an average of 104 crashes per year. From 2023 to 2024, the average number was reduced to 50. Fatalities dropped to zero.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Although total injuries are significantly down, a larger percentage of those injuries were incurred by vulnerable road users in 2024. Four pedestrians and 3 cyclists were hit, resulting in either minor injuries or no injuries. This higher number may be largely attributable to the increased pedestrian and cyclist traffic, but this is still an area to be improved upon.
THE ROAD DESIGN
Prior to the bike lanes being installed, most of 3rd Street had two car lanes in each direction and no middle turn lane. 35mph was the posted speed limit. After the bike lane installation, the most common configuration is one car lane in each direction, an open middle turn lane, and bidirectional bike lanes that are sometimes separated from car traffic by parked cars or flex posts. The posted speed limit changed to 30mph.
HOW WE ANALYZED
We reviewed crash data from the Arizona Department of Transportation, choosing 2017-2019 as the ‘before’ period since COVID impacted travel volumes starting in 2020. With 2023 being the first full year after the lanes were completed, that was our starting point for the ‘after’ period.