Bike sharrows have been installed along West Lake Avenue, part of efforts to create almost four miles of designated bikeways — not bike lanes — around the city.
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At the Aug. 8 regular meeting of City Council, Sixth Ward Councilman Joe Gibilisco said he’s received calls about bicycle paintings along West Lake Avenue and asked the administration to explain.
“Most roadways are not that wide and so we still want to let vehicles know and encourage bicycle traffic on certain roads,” City Administrator Jacqueline Foushee said. “Sharrows are roads that can be shared between bikes and vehicles.”
When West Lake Avenue was repaved, bike sharrow symbols were painted, Foushee said. Sharrows are sometimes used when a street is not wide enough to create a dedicated bike lane or protected bike lane (PBL).
Three years ago, City Council established designated bikeways across almost four miles of city streets, with one ordinance describing Class I bikeways (a street segment with a travel lane of 15+ feet) and Class I bikeways (a travel lane of less than 15 feet), and another designating the specific streets where bikeways would be established.
A number of different explanations on sharrows can be found via a brief Google search. For instance, the “shared lane markings” (SLM) are intended to show where cyclists can ride on the street without being hit by a suddenly-opened car door. Although it’s the motorist’s responsibility to check before opening their door, riding too close to parked cars is still a common mistake that can lead to serious injury.” The markings can be used in “situations where it may not be obvious where cyclists should be riding, such as at intersections with multiple turn lanes.”
Bicycling.com offers a guide to “notorious” SLM. Sharrows first appeared in Denver in the 1990s and the word — a “portmanteau of “share” and “arrow” — was coined in San Francisco in the early 2000s. It’s been included in the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices since 2009.
Although not everybody is sold on the benefits of Sharrows. as this blogger makes clear in Sharrows, the bicycle infrastructure that doesn’t work and nobody wants.
In 2015, City Council adopted an ordinance to establish a Complete Streets policy, meaning the city would formally take into account pedestrians, bicycles, cars, and mass transit in the course of planning.
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