The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday overturned Black Hawk’s controversial ban on biking inside the gambling town’s limits.

Black Hawk’s 2010 bike ban violated state law that allows local municipalities to prohibit bikes from streets only when an alternate and nearby route is provided, the court wrote, siding with three cyclists who were ticketed for violating the ban.

The three appealed their $68 tickets — issued in June 2010 — all the way to the state’s highest court, which heard oral arguments in November.

“I am so thrilled. There was absolutely no other way to go here,” said Rocky Mountain Cycling Club president Charlie Henderson, who was not one of the people ticketed. “We are ready to go. We are going to ride through there proudly, taking advantage of our rights as Colorado citizens.”

Black Hawk enacted the biking ban in January 2010, citing rising numbers of commercial buses and growing gambler traffic on the city’s narrow, shoulderless roads. The ban did not apply to locals commuting on bikes.

Black Hawk mayor David Spellman said he would take the court’s decision to his city council “and look at our options and decide where to go from there.”

The city issued a statement saying it would comply with the ruling, but was “very disappointed.”

“The city remains concerned that it is dangerous for bicycles to safely negotiate the commercial streets due to the volumes of vehicular traffic and the narrow right of way and steep grades,” statement said.

Black Hawk’s ban forced cyclists to walk their bikes through the city’s casino-lined streets on the southern end of the famed Peak to Peak Highway, a high-country scenic by-way popular with road cyclists.

Black Hawk’s busy Gregory Street is the only link from the city to the Colo. 119 segment of the Peak to Peak.

Black Hawk had argued that its home-rule status allowed it to script its own traffic laws. The city said the 2009 state law that required vehicles to give cyclists a 3-foot berth was unmanageable for gambler-toting tour buses and casino delivery trucks navigating Black Hawk’s narrow streets. So the city’s leaders chose to ban bikes.

Kent Powell asked the 1,700 riders in his 2011 Bike Tour of Colorado to walk their bikes through Black Hawk. A few did. Most kept ignored the ban and continued to ride a few minutes after the 7 a.m. start from Central City, a few blocks uphill from Black Hawk.

“They had signs all over saying no bikes and there were police out there hassling everyone,” Powell said. “It was just baloney on their part. We left so early in the morning, way before their gamblers were even out.”

The Supreme Court ruled the issue was not just local but impacted state residents. The court noted that municipalities can ban bikes — Denver prohibits pedalers on the 16th Street Mall, as does Boulder on a stretch of Pearl Street — but it must provide alternate routes within 450 feet, as required by state law.

The city’s statement on Monday said it would “look for alternatives” to address safety concerns but would not develop an alternate bike path. “The city has no plans to construct any special accommodations to address this issue.”

The court ruling also noted a “ripple effect” that resonated beyond Black Hawk, saying that the ban essentially prohibited bike access to Central City and “may also affect a bicyclist’s decision to visit other mountain towns, such as Nederland, that benefit from recreational tourism.”

“Because of Black Hawk’s ordinance and the strong negative public perception of the bicycle ban, especially by bicyclists, the ordinance will likely cause future bicycle tours to bypass the area entirely, resulting in a ‘ripple effect’ harming nearly communities that rely on additional tourism,” read the court’s decision, written by Justice Gregory Hobbs.

The court’s decision several times noted the state legislature’s longtime efforts to promote and protect cycling as a viable mode of transportation.

“Everybody has to realize that bikes are the same as cars and have a right to be there,” Bicycle Colorado executive director Dan Grunig said. “The Supreme Court ruling really affirmed the share-the-road law the state has passed. This may make Colorado’s laws some of the most bicycle friendly in the nation because they have an affirmation from the Supreme Court.”

Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374, jblevins@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jasontblevins