Tucson gets sharrows
safety July 30th, 2009
Tom Thivener, Bike and Pedestrian Manager for the City of Tucson, reports that sharrows got painted in two locations today: 6th Ave and 13th Street, and 6th Street and Highland.
Sharrows, he says, are designed to “instruct drivers and bicyclists if a particular roadway is bike
facility and where to expect bikes on the road.”
The only downside I see is that it might cause some drivers to think if there isn’t a sharrow then there shouldn’t be a bicyclist. Why do we need to remind drivers that bikes get to ride on the road too? But, alas, we apparently do need to remind them of this.
–Erik Ryberg
July 31st, 2009 at 6:12 am
[...] Gets Its First Sharrows, And They’re in the Middle of the Traffic Lane (TBL via Streetsblog.net) More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol [...]
July 31st, 2009 at 7:01 am
My concern about sharrows has always been that many vehicular operators don’t understand them. The bike logo indicates bike placement & sharing (to some of us, at least). But where do the cars go? (I’m perfectly happy if auto drivers interpret it as “turn left or right here”, but I doubt they’d be happy with that interpretation.) Would it be clearer if there were a car logo as well? Will cyclists on that stretch of road actually take the lane?
Why those two locations? I’ve never thought that Highland was particularly grating or dangerous there, since speeds are generally so low. But, it does set a precedent about the city’s idea of how wide a lane can be and have it be appropriate for a bicycle to take the entire lane, which is a useful bit of information.
At any rate, it’s an attempt at sharing the road and worth trying, and the city was willing to supply the paint and labor. I’ll take pretty much any movement as a positive thing — better than nothing. But, Erik, I do share your concern about the language, “IF a particular roadway is [a] bike facility” (emphasis and [a] mine). Still, I’ll try to be optimistic. It’s more fun.
July 31st, 2009 at 7:09 am
[...] Gets Its First Sharrows, And They’re in the Middle of the Traffic Lane (TBL via Streetsblog.net) More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol [...]
July 31st, 2009 at 8:56 am
Drivers get a lot of reminders they shouldnt need but clearly do. “Do not block intersection”, ” stop here on red”, ” yield to pedestrians”.
July 31st, 2009 at 9:24 am
[...] Gets Its First Sharrows, And They’re in the Middle of the Traffic Lane (TBL via [...]
July 31st, 2009 at 10:08 am
The sharrows also tell the cyclist where to ride. And since this one is at a corner, it is telling the cyclist to ride in the middle of the lane to avoid a car cutting the cyclist off with a right turn.
Try not to be too down when the city tries something new. These were invented in San Francisco about 10 years ago and we like em’ pretty well.
July 31st, 2009 at 10:23 am
Hi Jim, I didn’t mean to sound down about the sharrows! I should have been more clear, I am pleased with them and I hope we seem more. I think Tucson is doing a great job with infrastructure for bikes given the resource limitations and constraints out there.
Erik
July 31st, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Since the “Shared Lane Markings” are new, I should help describe the context of each location and describe the markings so folks understand the Tucson Dept. of Transportation’s rationale for placing them where we did.
First off, the markings are in the draft manual that regulates all things related to traffic (MUTCD). San Francisco and Denver I believe were the first city’s to experiment with these markings. They were studied extensively before getting to the point where they are on the verge of being approved for use across the board.
The draft MUTCD gives five options for using Shared Lane Markings.
A. 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,
B. 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,
C. Alert road users of the lateral location bicyclists are likely to occupy within the traveled way,
D. Encourage safe passing of bicyclists by motorists, and
E. Reduce the incidence of wrong-way bicycling.
In both locations installed yesterday, option C. was the main reason.
On 6th Avenue at 13th Street we have standard bicycle lanes before and after the intersection. At the intersection the bike lanes drop off because of existing concrete bumpouts that extend into the road, exactly where the bike lane would normally be. This physical obstacle forces bikes to have to merge into the main travel lane for a short ways.
As for southbound Highland at 6th Street, six months ago the City installed a Bike Box. The Bike Box was installed to reduce the amount of bike/car conflicts at at the far end of the intersection for south bound traffic coming out of the University. At the far end of the intersection it is a shared lane for a short ways. The shared lane marking helps to alert motorists of the shared lane and instructs bikes to take the lane rather than ride the curb which presents safety concerns.
Info relating to Bike Box found here http://www.dot.tucsonaz.gov/bicycle/pdfs/Bike%20Box%20Brochure%20new.pdf
These two locations will serve as pilot locations for the use of Shared Lane Markings in Tucson. If folks seem to understand them and they seem beneficial, more could be used in the future, especially for Option A, to avoid the ‘door zone’.
The markings just installed actually were not done in standard traffic paint. They are made from preformed thermoplastic and are applied with a heat source so that they melt on and stick to the pavement. Preformed thermoplastic lasts a lot longer than paint. It’s the same stuff that our bike box and green lane on Mountain Ave are made from. The markings are about three feet wide and 9 feet long.
Thanks Erik for providing the forum to talk about bike issues in Tucson.
July 31st, 2009 at 6:07 pm
“Drivers get a lot of reminders they shouldnt need but clearly do.”
Or my personal favorite, “DO NOT ENTER WHEN FLOODED”
August 1st, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Tucson adds another tool to the tool box.
August 3rd, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Generally if I am biking south on Highland and stop at 6th, the car that got there before me is already in the bike box while waiting for the light to change. If a bike is already in the box, cars are very good about staying back, but if the box isn’t already occupied cars drive on up to the light.
Mindy
August 5th, 2009 at 10:38 am
kudos to the city of Tucson — this is their first use in Arizona, i believe??
http://azbikelaw.org/blog/sharrow-shared-lane-marking-slm/comment-page-1/#comment-1798