GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The city’s first protected bike lane, also called a cycle track, is open to traffic along a stretch of Monroe Avenue NW.

Take a look at the video above for a sense of how the lane looks from the seat of a bike. If you'd like to give the track a try, note that temperatures are expected to warm near 50 degrees in the coming days



Landscaped islands separate motor vehicles from bicyclists on the west side of Monroe Avenue NW, along Riverside Park.

The two-way, paved path runs for a little over a mile on the west side of Monroe, between Guild and North Park streets. It was built as part of construction that put four roundabouts in the road.

You can see from the video how curbed, landscape islands and a row of parallel parking separate the motor traffic on Monroe from the bike lane. Pavement markings and signs for the cycle track and the on-street parking won't be in place until the spring.

“Buffered bike lanes, buffered cycle track, is that next level of infrastructure that the city is starting to look at,” said Christopher Zull, the city’s traffic safety manager. Separating bikes from motor vehicle traffic improves safety, he said.

Grand Rapids also has plans to put a two-way bike lane on Lyon Street NW, but the city's grant request for that project was denied, Zull said. Additional locations for cycle tracks could emerge from a bicycle safety education project currently underway, he said.

RELATED: $632K bicycle safety education project in Grand Rapids: What 5 consultants will do

Bicyclists are pleased with the new protected lane and want the city to make a plan for where others could be built in the future, said Thomas Tilma, executive director of the Greater Grand Rapids Bicycle Coalition.

"We feel protected bike lanes appeal to a broader segment of cyclists" who perceive a safer ride, he said. "There's a national trend to add protected bike lanes. A bicycle plan (for Grand Rapids) would identify the locations and funding sources for them. They're quite a bit more expensive (than bike lane markings on the street)."

Monroe Avenue NW roundabouts begin to take shape 9 Gallery: Monroe Avenue NW roundabouts begin to take shape

Matt Vande Bunte covers government for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at mvandebu@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter and Facebook.