Grand Valley need more, better bike lanes

How great would it be for the Grand Valley if there were more dedicated bike routes? I'm not talking about the narrow strips of asphalt along the margins of our already cramped roadways marked with nothing more than a white line. No, I'm referring to actual separate bicycle 'highways'. These are bike paths that are separated or isolated from the roads that motor vehicles drive on. Sometimes they are a dedicated bike lane on a regular street but they are separated from other traffic by physical barriers, they have their signal lights, etc. Others are more like sidewalks such as the one located along 12th Street near CMU. Other possible locations could be along abandoned railroad routes or the many irrigation canals which crisscross the valley. It's not an unprecedented idea as there are many examples of this all across the nation. As a cyclist and a driver myself I think encouraging more commuter bike traffic is a good thing but having them share the same roads as cars and trucks is not.