Goodbye to Bogotá's Best 'Bike Lane'

Cyclists ride in the TransMilenio lanes on 26th St., with a TM station on one side and Bogotá's Eastern Hills behind. 

A poster made by the Institute of
Recreation and Sports (the IDRD),
reminding cyclists not to ride in the
TransMilenio lanes as of June 30. 

For the past year or so, thanks to delays in putting the new TransMilenio line on 26th St. into operation, the unused lanes have been a de-facto bike lane - Bogotá's widest, straightest and most uncluttered bike lane, in fact.

But with the planned (partial) opening of the new TM line tomorrow - only about two years late - this will end. The avenue will have a bike lane designed to be a bike lane. It's a good lane, but of course it is narrower, and also shifts from the sidewalk to the center of the avenue. 

A crowd inaugurating a new TransMilenio station.

A pair of cyclists stopped in the new bike lane, or Cicloruta, in the center of 26th St. along this stretch.

By Mike Ceaser of Bogota Bike Tours