Denver Bike Map

Many residents of the city and county of Denver, Colorado, enjoy the outdoors and, in particular, biking. In spring 2003, the city and county began work on a new bike map. Denver's last map was created in 1996 using Adobe Photoshop software. Since the creation of that map, Denver has undergone immense growth in its population, infrastructure, GIS data, and technical expertise.

The purpose of this project was to produce an easily readable, user-friendly map that clearly defined the location of current bike routes, bike lanes, bike shops, places of interest, and planned improvements to Denver's bike infrastructure. Additional graphics and text were incorporated to facilitate awareness of the rules of the road, bike safety, and bike etiquette.

This map was created using multiple software packages and operating systems and was sent to a traditional offset printer. ArcGIS 9 allowed the cartographer to export the map panels as CMYK color scheme, Encapsulated PostScript files. This eased the burden of importing the maps into QuarkXPress 4.1 and ensured accurate color calibration for the final printed product. This map is printed on waterproof, tear-resistant Polyart paper.

Cartography was provided by DenverGIS, and graphic arts support was contributed by the Community Planning and Development Department. The cities of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and Chicago, Illinois (including the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation), graciously allowed the use of their graphic illustrations Sharing the Trail, Multi-Use Trail Shared Responsibilities, Sharing the Road (including Avoiding the Door Zone), Bike Laws, and Bike Theft.