Transcript SHARROWS - Druid City Bicycle Club

SHARROWS:
Sharing the streets with
Bicycles
What are sharrows?
• Shared lane pavement markings
• Are comprised of an image of a
bike with chevrons to indicate
that motorists and cyclists share
the traffic lane.
• Can be used in conjunction with
“Share the Road” signs
• History – Denver developed a
“bike in house” logo in 1995.
• San Francisco began using a
modified version of the logo in
1998
• Many other cities have followed
What do they provide?
• Assist bicyclists with lateral positioning in a shared lane with on-street
parallel parking in order to reduce the chance of a bicyclist’s impacting the
open door of a parked vehicle;
• Assist bicyclists with lateral positioning in lanes that are too narrow for a
motor vehicle and a bicycle to travel side by side within the same traffic
lane;
• Alert road users of the lateral location bicyclists are likely to occupy within
the traveled way;
• Encourage safe passing of bicyclists by motorists; and
• Reduce the incidence of wrong-way bicycling.
A study of shared roadways showed:
• Increase distance between cyclists and parked
cars
• Increase distance between motorists and
cyclists
• Reduce number of cyclists on sidewalks
• Reduce the number of cyclists riding the
wrong way on road
Which cities have Sharrows?
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Denver, CO
Gainesville, FL
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
Pittsburgh, PA
Atlanta, GA
Portland, OR
Ann Arbor, MI
Spartanburg, SC
Austin, TX
And many more cities
Sharrows in Tampa, Florida
• You're looking at the first
"sharrows" in the city of
Tampa -- shared-road
markings painted on Euclid
Avenue between Bayshore
and Westshore. They have
been in the works for several
months now after Mayor
Pam Iorio killed the plan for
bike lanes on Euclid. City
staff replaced the bike lane
plan with sharrows and signs
along Euclid that tell drivers
that bicyclists will be in the
traffic lane.
Miami, Florida
• Here’s a photo from
Eddie Suarez of the
TriLocos, trying out the
new Shared Use Lane
Markings (sharrows) on
Washington Avenue in
Miami Beach:
North Carolina & Georgia
• CHAPEL HILL, N.C.-The town of
Chapel Hill installed pilot bicycle
travel lanes on one stretch of Martin
Luther King, Jr. boulevard. “Sharrows”
are designed for busy streets upon
which there aren’t room for
dedicated bicycle lanes, particularly
those with parallel parking. Sharrow
markings indicate that motorists are
to share the lane with cyclists, and
are to wait for cyclists to turn, or are
to wait for a clear moment to pass. A
series of chevron markings on the
roadway show cyclists the “channel”
they’re entitled to, which is safely
away from the danger of opening car
doors.
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The fix is in - Atlanta's first sharrows
("shared lane markings") were
installed on Jackson Street. A local
company that makes sharrow
symbols plans to install a small
demonstration project in front of a
downtown building so there will be
more awareness of what these
symbols mean. Sharrows are coming
soon to a prominent local bridge as
well as other streets around the city
of Atlanta. Sharrows have been
officially accepted by the national
symbols and signs guidelines.
Georgia & Louisianna
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News: Sharrows Coming Soon to
Clifton Road August 18, 2010. Soon
DeKalb County will be installing
shared-lane or “sharrow” markings
along with bicycle signage on
Clifton Road. Sharrows will be
added to the segment of Clifton
Road between Briarcliff and North
Decatur roads.
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control
Devices
• Now includes provisions for sharrows
• http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/htm/2009/part9/p
art9c.htm#section9C07
Dimensions for Sharrow
From the Manual on Uniform Traffic
Control Devices
The Shared Lane Marking should
not be placed on roadways that
have a speed limit above 35 mph.
Shared Lane Markings shall not
be used on shoulders or in
designated bicycle lanes.
Space allowed for car
doors to open
Provides space for car doors to open
and for bikes to pass without being
“doored” by a car.
How many are needed?
• The number should correspond to difficulty of
cyclists trying to take proper travel path.
• Example:
– In a quiet neighborhood with wide lanes,
markings can be placed every 250’ or more
– On a busy street with narrow lanes and heavy
traffic, place markings every 100’ or less.
Factors to consider
• Motorists traveling 30 mph (or ~45 feet per
second) will pass a marking placed 200’ every
~4.5 seconds
Do they work?
• A 2003 study in San Francisco showed
– cyclists moved further away from parked cars
– passing motorists moved further away from cyclists
than in the absence of sharrows.
– The California Traffic Control Device Committee
recently adopted sharrows as a statewide standard
roadway treatment, and San Francisco has already
painted hundreds of them on their streets. Many
cities nationwide such as Portland, Oregon and
Chicaco are also now incorporating sharrows into
their cycling toolbox.
What’s wrong with bike lanes?
• Nothing
• But… sharrows can be used where there isn’t
enough room for a bike lane because of onstreet parking
• They are an alternative to bike lanes.
Costs
• Thermoplastic sharrows were purchased for
$123 each and were installed by a crew of five
City of Austin employees for $69 each. In a
single day, the crew could install up to 30
markings for a total cost of $5,760.
Costs
• San Francisco used Methylmethacralate
• Cost per marking: $150 – includes
planning/engineering and paint shop labor
and material, somewhat conservative
estimate.
• Maintenance : 2-5+ years, depending on care
of installation and location.
Possible places to begin in Tuscaloosa
• University Blvd.
• Queen City Ave.
• Greensboro Ave.
• Hackberry Lane
• 13th Street
• 12th Ave.
• Campus Dr. (from Univ. Blvd.)
Resources
• Evaluation of Shared Lane Markings Technical Report
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Effects of Shared Lane Markings on Bicyclist and Motorist Behavior along MultiLane Facilities
Bicycling and on street Parallel Parking