Curbs, but no gutter please
| In Santa Fe, some streets and roads have an unprotected bike lane, defined by a white line, typically 3 or so feet wide as measured from the curb*. Most of these have a 14-16" gutter attached to the curb, so that there is a seam between the concrete and the asphalt. In the example shown here, the seam is in good condition, but in most places, this seam is the place where the asphalt crumbles first, and on some streets, when the asphalt was repaved, there can be a 1-2" height difference between the asphalt and the gutter. Cyclists have to avoid these seams, and are therefore forced to ride further away from the curb, closer to passing traffic. What follows below is even more applicable to streets where no bike lane is painted. |
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The solution is of course not rocket science: On the next block, you can see that the gutter part can be eliminated, extending the asphalt right up to the curb. Here you can ride closer to the curb, away from passing trucks.
Also note there are cracks in the asphalt, but none where the
asphalt meets the curb.
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| Also, if there is a seam, weeds will find it. | 
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| Here is a typical example from the Oct 10 2024 BPAC meeting.
It shows part of a drawing showing a 2' C&G, apparently the current
default design.
The only function of the curb-and-gutter appears to be to collect
debris and to endanger bikers. Removing the gutter would not change
the shape of the surface or the functionality of the design.
Therefore, we should change the design rules such that when engineering drawings get made, the default should be curb-no-gutter. This is low-hanging fruit, and costs nothing. | 
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What about maintainance?
There are 2 aspects to maintenance. One is 'are bike lanes (and streets in general) kept clean?' Of course, we know that the answer is no. [Note that in this particular example, the grit and debris has collected in the bike lane, and NOT in the gutter, another problem caused directly by the curb-and-gutter installation.] |
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Maintenance - pavement
The other aspect is the maintainance of the road suface itself. Here the ostensible argument has to do with deterioration of the seam between the asphalt and the concrete. As mentioned before, this is where the asphalt deteriorates, and is sometimes patched. In addition, when repaving is done, the result is often a height difference between the new asphalt and the old concrete gutter.
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On the few streets in Santa Fe where there is a curb but no gutter, we
see no deterioration of the asphalt, likely because cars can not drive
over the joint, as they do when there is a gutterpan.
No gutters on:
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What do they do in other cities?
If drainage and/or freeze-thaw cycles were the real reason to have these
wide gutters, one would expect them to show up in other places around
the world. With Google Maps, I zoomed in on random streets in Holland,
Germany, England, Denmark, New Zealand, Canada and Oregon.
Portland OR, Cambridge MA, Burlington VT, Portland ME, Santa Fe, etc, etc, etc. |
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Note that the bottom left picture above is from Portland, OR.
So
I looked up their design standards, and presto!
curbs and no gutters.
Let's do this in Santa Fe!
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| I still haven't found out where the 'Santa Fe Standard' curb-and-gutter designs come from. City engineering says it is not them, MPO also not. Anyone? Let me know. | 
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Last updated 4 Aug 2025 - Hubert
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