Protected Bike Lanes Less Expensive Than Painted on New Roads
Cycle tracks (protected bike lanes) separated from the roadway surface can be less expensive and maintain to build than painted or buffered bike lanes on new or widened roads. They reduce the total roadway surface area and thus the amount of stormwater generated. Runoff from the lanes can be treated via rain gardens. As a cycle track separate from the roadway surface does not have to support the weight of motor vehicles, the cost may be less than painted and buffered bike lanes that increase the total width of the roadway.
From Reevely: Ottawa looks to save builders (and buyers) millions on new subdivisions
Roads for cars and trucks are paved atop layer after layer of stabilizing foundation; they have to withstand years of pressure from thousands of pounds of rubber and glass and metal. A cyclist weighs a couple of hundred pounds at most, and there’s no point, the city has realized, in building a road extra wide only to reserve a metre on either side of it for bikes. Cycle tracks next to sidewalks, on beds built to the lighter sidewalk standards, are good enough.
Better, in fact, because most cyclists prefer to be up and away from car traffic, protected from motor vehicles by more than a line of paint. So the city can save $41 for every metre of road we build by doing what cyclists want anyway.
From Separated Bike Lanes: What are the Stormwater Implications?
The primary benefit of a protected bike lane from a stormwater perspective is that runoff from the bike lane does not mix with runoff from the vehicle lane. This can be extremely beneficial in jurisdictions that consider the bike/pedestrian area a non-pollution generating surface (although some jurisdictions will still require it to be treated like water from the roadway). Plus this option also leads to the smallest increase in impervious surface.
Debris, Snow and Ice Clearing
Especially when a painted bike lane is adjacent to a curb or a jersey barrier, debris from the travel lanes will knocking into and collect in the bike lane requiring very frequent sweeping to keep the lane free of debris. In the winter, snow, ice and sand will collect in painted bike lanes often making them unusable. On a protected bike lane separated from the road surface, road debris will not collect in the bike lane. If it is graded properly, a protected bike lane will require much less sweeping as debris will be flushed off by rain and be knocked off by bicycle tires.
A key to minimizing puddling and ice is making the surface of protected bike lane slightly higher than the adjacent grass or other material so the rain water or melting snow flows off and not onto the protected bike lane.
Thanks to the Real Estate Foundation of BC for supporting our Moving Active Transportation Forward in BC initiative. 
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