Colorado Springs cyclists have found a friend in City Councilman Tim Leigh.

Leigh, an avid cyclist himself, launched a successful campaign to install so-called sharrows on city streets that serve to remind motorists to share the lane with cyclists.

Leigh said he had money left over from the fundraising campaign for the sharrows project, so he took his “Share the Road” message from the street to the freeway.

Leigh recently said that he commissioned a mural on the wall of a building on West Filmore Street facing Interstate 25 “to showcase our sharrow attitude of Share the Road.”

On Friday, Leigh said the mural, which features a family of cyclists and the “Share the Road” message with Pikes Peak in the background, was completed.

“I would like to see these murals painted on as many buildings as we can,” he said.

Leigh said Nancy Johnson, director of parks, planning and public works, there are people, especially in the arts community, that might be interested in getting involved.

“The cost of the material is really small, and there’s a lot of really interesting, young, bright artists,” he said. “If we can give them a canvass and directions from the city that said, ‘Let’s make our city one of those places where we have really interesting mural art on a lot of these buildings.’ It’s part of an attraction.”

Leigh said the proposed murals could help brand Colorado Springs.

“It’s one of the arrows in the quiver of enhancing the culture,” he said. “You know my statement: Enhance the culture so it naturally attracts young creatives. Businesses will be drawn to Colorado Springs to employ them.”

The “Share the Road” mural was painted by artist Kim Polomka, who painted the rooftop mural promoting Colorado Springs as the home of the U.S. Olympic Committee, among other murals around town. The City Council spent taxpayer money on the USOC mural.

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