Bike riders will be able to yield legally at stop signs around Aspen [Aspen Times]

The Aspen City Council on Tuesday decided it will make legal what many bicyclists already are doing: rolling through stop signs.

With little discussion, Mayor Steve Skadron and council members Ann Mullins and Adam Frisch agreed with Aspen police and other city staff members to create an ordinance that allows bicyclists to use stop signs in the same manner that motorists use a yield sign. Councilman Art Daily, who is traveling, was not present for Tuesday’s work session.

The new rule — heralded as a safety measure and a possible incentive for more people to use bikes — won’t become official until it goes through the council’s regular meeting cycle with an introduction at one meeting and a vote for or against final approval at another.

“I am ready to move forward with this,” Skadron said. “I think it’s safe, sensible and efficient bike transport.”

In February, the City Council discussed the issue after Aspen police brought information to them about the “stop-as-yield approach” which has worked in Idaho for many years. A 2008 study by the University of California at Berkeley showed that in Idaho, police and motorists have accepted the measure as public policy that makes sense.

[Keep reading at Aspen Times]