Phoenix has an extensive network of bike lanes, shared-use paths, and neighborhood streets, but some areas are safer for cyclists than others. Traffic volume, roadway design, and bicycle infrastructure all play a role in reducing the risk of collisions. Here’s a look at some of the city’s more bike-friendly neighborhoods and the features that help make them safer places to ride.

Factors That Make Some Neighborhoods Safer

Bicycle accidents aren’t random events. Instead, they tend to result from a combination of certain factors that increase the risk of collisions between automobiles and bicycles. 

Traffic Congestion

Busy roads can elevate the risk of bicycle collisions. The presence of more cars naturally raises the odds of a dangerous interaction between bicycles and vehicles. 

Common causes of bicycle accidents include:

  • Improper passing
  • Distracted driving
  • Failing to yield to cyclists with the right of way
  • Inattentive driving

Certain neighborhoods see higher traffic volumes than others. This explains why some neighborhoods, such as Downtown, Uptown, and Maryvale, have a higher crash risk, according to the Phoenix high-injury network map.

Bicycle Infrastructure

Bicycle infrastructure helps to divide bicycle and automobile traffic. Phoenix has three types of bikeways, all of which set aside space for the exclusive use of bicycles. Most bike lanes are designated using painted lines, although they may also be physically separated from vehicle travel lanes using barriers.

According to the city’s bike network map, most neighborhoods have standard bike lanes on their major roads. For example, Southern Avenue and Central Avenue have bike lanes where they pass through Downtown Phoenix.

Another type of bikeway is a bike boulevard. These are residential streets with reduced speed limits and minimal cross-traffic. By eliminating speeding and intersection violations, the risks of bicycle accidents are significantly reduced. Phoenix has one bike boulevard along Fillmore Street in the Garfield neighborhood.

Bike paths prohibit all motorized traffic. These are the safest bikeways because they are limited to pedestrians and human-powered vehicles, like bicycles. Several neighborhoods have bike paths, including the Arizona Canal path through the Phoenix West, North Central, and Biltmore Heights neighborhoods.

Bike bridges supplement these bikeways. Many of the major bike paths include bicycle bridges. Bridges and underpasses allow bicyclists and pedestrians to cross roads by going over or under them, rather than crossing the surface. The locations of bike bridges fall along the major bike paths, including the Grand Canal and Arizona Canal paths.

Phoenix’s Bicycle-Friendly Neighborhoods

The safest neighborhoods for riders tend to have bikeways and low traffic volumes. However, these features are often trade-offs. Busy roads see a lot of crashes, so the city builds bikeways to improve safety. Low-traffic roads usually don’t need bikeways because riders are relatively safe.

The safest areas in Phoenix are often the suburbs away from the city center. Neighborhoods in the far north area of the city, such as Tramonto and Sonoran Foothills, have such low traffic that they have few car accidents, pedestrian accidents, and bicycle accidents alike. 

Northeast neighborhoods, like Dove Valley Ranch, Aviano, Mountaingate, and Desert Ridge, also tend to be safe.

Although Camelback and Camelback East Village have heavy traffic, they have several bike paths as well. Moreover, the crashes in these areas are largely limited to the major roads, such as Camelback Road, Indian School Road, and Thomas Road. Riders who stick to neighborhood streets and bike paths can be relatively safe.

Central Phoenix presents a mixed picture. Heavy traffic means that many of the city’s crashes happen in the Downtown, Garfield, East Lake Park, and Central City South neighborhoods. However, these neighborhoods are also where the city has focused many of its traffic safety efforts. As a result, riders have public transit options to help them travel busier streets.

Additionally, the area is served by the Rio Salado Pathway. This bike path runs along the Salt River toward Tempe.

Riding Your Bike Safely in Phoenix

No neighborhood in Phoenix or any other city is completely free of accident risks of any type. However, the suburbs and areas served by bike trails can be navigated more safely than other areas with high traffic and no bike infrastructure. It’s important to reach out to a personal injury lawyer if you were hurt in a bicycle accident to explore your options.