Rumble Strip Update - Adventure Cycling Association

Could things be looking up for bicyclists on rumble strips?

Last month, I wrote that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) had issued an important new technical advisory (TA) on rumble strips for the first time in 10 years. From a bicyclist's perspective, it was a disaster -- and I write this as someone who fully understands that rumble strips can be effective safety devices, when properly used. However, the new TA encouraged the irresponsible and even dangerous use of rumbles on a number of secondary and country roads that are important for traveling and recreational cyclists.

With our partners, the League of American Bicyclists and the Alliance for Biking and Walking, we have worked very hard over the last few months to change the TA and develop a much better federal guidance on rumbles. We started with detailed analyses of the deficiencies in the new TA (encapsulated in this pdf document) and have held lengthy meetings with FHWA's director of safety and technology, Michael Griffith, plus many of his staff and also officials at the U.S. Department of Transportation.


[continue reading at Adventure Cycling Association]


Here is how Ohio is handling rumble strips.

1) Adopted policy calls for installation only when there are 4’ paved shoulders.
2) Plan to install rumble “stripes” (under shoulder line) on 3’ shoulders on 1,650 miles of two-lane highways. The plan for these stripes has reportedly been approved by the MPO for Northern Ohio. The most recent crash data (2008) on secondary roads indicates that rumbles would prevent very few driver-related crashes.
3) General view that cyclists prefer to ride in traffic lanes, not on shoulder.