COLUMBUS PROPOSES TO INSTALL BICYCLE PAVEMENT MARKINGS ON HIGH STREET

For Project Information:
Nicholas Popa, P.E. City of Columbus, Department of Public Service Project Manager 109 North Front Street Columbus, Ohio 43215 645-0543 njpopa@columbus.gov

Media Only Contact:

Rick Tilton City of Columbus, Department of Public Service Assistant Director 645-7263

The City of Columbus proposes to install 189 pavement markings or “sharrows” (pictured) on High Street between Nationwide Boulevard and Morse Road in spring 2010. These pavement markings are part of the Bicentennial Bikeways Plan adopted by City Council in 2008 and would serve as companion signage to 54 Share the Road signs installed on the same section of North High Street in the fall of 2009.

The word SHARROW is a combination of SHared lane and ARROW. Shared-lane pavement markings, or sharrows, are bicycle symbols. The graphics are intended to guide bicyclists to the best place to ride, avoid opened car doors and remind drivers to share the road with cyclists. Shared lanes are different than bike lanes which are set aside for bicyclists and marked by a solid white line and a different symbol. Several cities have already installed sharrows, including Austin, Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville, Miami Beach, Pittsburgh, Portland and Salt Lake City.

Comments

  1. Count me in with those who think sharrows are a cheap way for cities to claim to improve cycling safety without really doing anything to improve safety. I think they can actually decrease safety. In areas that already have them, there are lots of people who mistakenly think they are dedicated bike lanes, lanes where bikes have priority and are to be avoided by cars unless turning or passing (like bus lanes), or are the only lanes bikes are allowed in. When you mix cyclists and motorists with different ideas about who is supposed to be where there is the potential for accidents. Its kind of amusing that Seattle's web page on the sharrow program tells people to ride/drive as if there were no sharrows. If their proper use is to pretend they dont exist, why bother spending the money on them in the first place?

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