Fifty-six years ago today, on September 24th, 1970, the first bike lanes in Fort Collins were painted along the 700 block of West Olive Street.
To mark the milestone, Fort Collins City Council has officially designated September 24th as Bette Sears Bike Lane Appreciation Day. Mayor Emily Francis presented the proclamation honoring the late local advocate, with Sears’ husband, Bill, and son, Gregory, in attendance alongside staff and advocates from FC Bikes and Bike Fort Collins.
In 1970, after living in Davis, California, Bette Sears returned to Fort Collins advocating for dedicated cycling infrastructure to reduce traffic congestion and collisions.
That summer, Sears and local resident Ruth Orr organized a petition drive calling on the city to install designated bike routes. Sears collected signatures door-to-door, assembling an 82-foot petition with over 1,700 names, representing roughly 4% of the town’s population at the time.
Following the presentation of the petition to City Council, the city approved an experimental bike lane. Striping began on September 24, 1970, on the 700 block of West Olive Street between Loomis and Grant avenues. The pilot eventually expanded into a 4.5-mile test network on corridors including Edwards and Whedbee streets, marking the city’s first on-street bike lane installation.
Sears, who passed away in 2016 at age 76, is recognized as the catalyst for the municipal bike program that followed throughout the 1970s.
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