All good points. But, just curious...you would be riding erratically
without the sharrows...because...why? (:
~kel
Daniel Liu writes:
I agree, it's exceedingly valuable to let drivers know that bicyclists
are not only allowed, but supposed to be in lanes marked with sharrows.
I've found it's a great boost in my confidence as well, and I don't ride
as erratically in the lane as I do in unmarked ones.
As far as road markers go, it's nicely subtle, and works best when you
know what else is around you — just like most other road markers, like
crosswalks or yield markers. They're starting to appear in a lot of other
cities as well. I saw them first in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and
both Seattle and Portland have painted a lot of them in the last few
years. The chevrons and the exact size seem to be the key indicators: to
let people know that "bikes can go here" in the positive sense, not "only
bikes here." I don't think many people would get them confused with
striped bike lanes, in part because sharrows should be painted only where
there no separate bike lanes, and mostly on busier streets. (Johnson
north of Ingersoll would be a great place to put some down.)
--Dan Liu
On 8 Oct, 2009, at 10:12 AM, Bill Obermeyer wrote:
I like the idea of a marking that encourages people to ride on streets
and encourages people in cars to share the road. Letting motorists
know that it is OK for bicyclists to "take the lane" is priceless. It's
great that something is being done about E. Wilson.
That said, I'm a bit skeptical about these particular markings in the
long term. If we don't instantly recognize the meaning of the symbol,
what are the chances that someone who is not a bicyclist will do so?
An education campaign would help - 'though it would not help
out-of-towners.
The symbol, at first glance, looked like an enhanced bike lane marking
to me. If people get in the habit of driving over bike silhouettes,
will people be able tell the difference between sharrows and bike lanes
when they are driving. Will we have to add markings to the bike lanes
to make it clear that a silhouette without chevrons means that no cars
are allowed? From what I understand, a research project about
effectiveness is ongoing.
-Bill
On Oct 8, 2009, at 9:48 AM, Mitchell Nussbaum wrote:
I'd like to see them on the on-street segments of the Lake Monona Loop.
No guarantees that they would prevent crashes at the Dempsey/ Cottage
Grove
intersection, but they might, if they encouraged bikes to ride in the
street instead of hiding on the sidewalk.
Michael Rewey wrote:
Sharrows are being placed on East Wilson between the bike path
segments!
Cool. They
probally aren't really needed for bike-motor vehicle safety on this
street, but its a great idea
to place them on street segments that are part of the path system.
Good
for continuity.
Other street segments might be Olin-Turville Park Road and the short
street segments on
the the Starkweather Path. Waunona Way?
Thanks!
Mike Rewey
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