sharrow
They’re here! It’s been a long wait, but Austin bicyclists finally will get their first taste of sharrows (shared lane markings) when the city installs the thermoplastic stencils on Guadalupe, Lavaca and 51st streets tomorrow (weather permitting).
The sharrows are part of a pilot project, which is required by the Federal Highway Administration before cities can start using them in their toolboxes for bike facilities. Specifically, they are set to go in on Guadalupe and Lavaca between 20th and Cesar Chavez, and E. 51st between I-35 and Airport Blvd.
Readers here may remember you had a chance to weigh in on the entire pilot project, which also includes colored bike lanes, bike boxes and “Bikes May Use Full Lane” signs, all which should be on the street in test form within the next couple of weeks.
Even more exciting, at least for bike facility geeks, is the fact that the Guadalupe/Lavaca sharrows will go in on both the right and left lane. We’ve been trying to find out if this has been done elsewhere (rumor has it Seattle has them), so we’ll let you know if we’re unique or not. Regardless, it’s fairly rare, and the idea is to not force bicyclists to cross three lanes of traffic if they know they’re going to be turning left.
There was a wee bit of drama early this week as Capitol Metro noted that they were concerned about sharrows going in on a corridor that they plan to use for Rapid Bus and regular bus service with bus-only lanes. Cap Metro felt the sharrows would give an “expectation” that the facility would be there permanently. COA is also mulling the pair of streets for future rail. However, city staff and LOBV were adamant that rail/transit planning–with an uncertain outcome or timeline–shouldn’t stop sharrow use today. I pointed out that cars already have expectation that their lane will be there forever, so why should we worry about bikes? I feel confident that bicyclists will support transit planning and move out of the way if necessary. It’s the motorists I worry about. (The ROMA downtown plans show bus-only lanes in the right lane, with a sharrow in the middle right lane.) In the end, we agreed to coordinate better with Cap Metro.
COA will study the sharrows over the next few months to evaluate several criteria for how bicyclists interact with them. After that point it’s hopeful that they will become a full-fledged member of the local bike facility toolbox.
Related posts:
- November Update from City of Austin on bike infrastructure improvements ...
- Austin Commuter Challenge press conference tomorrow ...
- Portland Construction Company sets up temporary bike only lanes during projects ...
- City Bike Program gives update on project progress ...
- Signs of new bike infrastructure popping up in South Austin ...
on Oct 21st, 2009 at 4:31 pm
hokey smokes, those are HUGE. Good job, everybody. I suspect that in the long run the most effective use of these things is going to be in transition points between sections with bike lanes and sections without (for instance, Duval Rd up in NW Austin when the bike lane ends/begins).
on Oct 21st, 2009 at 9:18 pm
These are going to be great if we can spread the word to the entire cycling community on how they should be used. Thanks for playing a part in that.
on Oct 21st, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Sharrows rock.
on Oct 22nd, 2009 at 8:04 am
[...] Gets Its First Sharrows Today (A2W via Streetsblog.net) More headlines over at Streetsblog Capitol [...]
on Oct 22nd, 2009 at 10:28 am
[...] Gets Its First Sharrows Today (A2W via Streetsblog.net) More headlines over at Streetsblog Capitol [...]
on Oct 22nd, 2009 at 11:03 am
[...] Gets Its First Sharrows Today (A2W via [...]
on Oct 22nd, 2009 at 2:50 pm
People shouldn’t be biking on major streets like Guadalupe/Lavaca anyway! I bike that direction every day and the best bike route is Nueces (going North use Rio Grande when it’s a one-way). It’s very fast and much safer!
Biking on the major car routes is dangerous for bikes, slows down traffic, and is completely unnecessary.
Austin should concentrate on establishing safe routes for bikes that avoid the congested streets used for auto traffic.
on Oct 22nd, 2009 at 4:47 pm
@tim
“Biking on the major car routes is dangerous for bikes, slows down traffic, and is completely unnecessary.”
What if a cyclist lives on one of these “major car routes”? What if they want to visit a friend who lives there? What if they want to shop at a store or visit a doctor’s office there?
I guess they should just buy a car, right?
on Oct 22nd, 2009 at 5:24 pm
All the people driving alone in their cars slow traffic down a lot more than bikes. Also, if more people were biking on them and less were driving, they would be safer to bike on.
on Oct 22nd, 2009 at 6:47 pm
“All the people driving alone in their cars slow traffic down a lot more than bikes.”
Yeah, speaking of that, I had some minutes to spare so I took Guadalupe St. downtown during rush hour. Once I got to about 17th St., the traffic was backed up and barely moving. I proceeded, somewhat out of curiosity. I didn’t lane split. I think it took me about 10-15 minutes to get to 6th St. At times, it seemed like there was literally gridlock.
When it comes to making traffic move slowly, bicycles have _nothing_ on excessive car use.
on Oct 23rd, 2009 at 2:53 am
Great news! It looks like several other routes have been requested (via Twitter!) by the public at http://www.seeclickfix.com/austin
Keep up the great work!
on Oct 23rd, 2009 at 2:59 am
Austin’s first sharrows to be installed tomorrow: http://tinyurl.com/yztmz4s Nice.
on Oct 25th, 2009 at 11:20 am
I rode Guadalupe and Lavaca Saturday the 24th (between MLK and 4th), didn’t see any sharrows. Delayed I guess?
on Oct 26th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
I drove down Guadalupe over the weekend, too, hoping to see some big honkin’ sharrows and was similarly disappointed.
on Oct 26th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
But on the other hand, there did appear to be some bike-box preparatory work going on at 38th/Speedway on Friday.
on Oct 26th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Mike,
I think the recent wet weather delayed the install, but I’m not sure.
on Oct 27th, 2009 at 3:06 am
Tim: As an Austinite who recently moved to Portland to study transportation planning, my eyes have gotten real big seeing what a bike culture similar not long ago to Austin’s has achieved in less than a decade. Studies here have shown that cheap and highly visible improvements (eg. sharrows) on what had previously been viewed as “major car routes” have made motorists significantly more aware of bikes in general, creating a generally safer riding environment. The resulting increase in two-wheeled traffic has given planners just enough ammo to push successfully for the re-synchronizing of traffic lights on a few of these “major car routes” (similar to Guadalupe and Lavaca) to a “green wave” for bikes rather than cars! Over time, people are finding it more of a hassle to maneuver their car through the city than to breeze through it on a bike, and that was a fantasy here too in the not-so-distant past…
on Oct 27th, 2009 at 3:08 am
(oops, I’m not the same Aaron as above, btw)
on Oct 28th, 2009 at 10:33 am
The bike box treatment underway at Speedway/38th is making me nervous – the first steps appear to have been to extend the bike lanes on the “downstream” side of 38th all the way back to the intersection. This seems dumb to me; intuitively one of the primary benefits of the bike box was going to be to allow cyclists to proceed through the intersection first, ahead of the motorists/buses, to the point where the bike lane picked back up (past the left turn lane, i.e.).
Now, there’s kind of no point – barring right-turning vehicles who don’t behave, there’s no real reason for the bike box at all – the bike lane doesn’t even have the gap.
on Oct 28th, 2009 at 10:35 am
by ‘downstream’ I mean the bike lane on the side going away from the intersection, in case that’s not clear.
on Nov 19th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
I’m going to install a sharrow on the town lake hike/bike trail with a picture of a Four-Wheel drive truck on it.
This is a bad idea.
on Nov 19th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
If you are doing less than 10 mph under the posted speed limit, stay off my road. I say “my” road because if you are riding your bike everywhere, you are not paying the gas tax that pays for the road.
on Nov 23rd, 2009 at 9:32 am
John, you’re absolutely wrong – most of the roads around here, even the major roads, get zero dollars and zero cents of funding from the gas tax (they are paid for by local funds – mostly sales and property taxes) – and even major highways like 183, 360, Mopac, etc. have gotten some local funding – so it’s cyclists who have been paying for ‘your’ roads, not the other way around.