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Sharing the Road with Sharrows
Many people wonder what those little bike symbols mean and why they are there. Shared lane pavement markings, or “sharrows”, are bicycle symbols carefully placed to guide bicyclists to the best place to ride on the road, avoid car doors and remind drivers to share the road with cyclists. Unlike bicycle lanes, sharrows do not designate a particular part of the roadway for the exclusive use of bicyclists. They are simply a marking to help motorists expect to see and share the lane with bicyclists.
As we move forward with implementing our bike master plan; our first choice is always to put a bike lane on both sides of the street. Sometimes the street isn’t quite wide enough. So second choice is a bike lane on the uphill climb; and sharrow on the downhill roll. If we can’t fit in a bike lane, we still want to make it clear bikes share the road, and make connections between trails for cyclists. Sometimes we put in sharrows because the road is just not wide enough for bike lanes. Other times it is because we know it will take a while to get the lane in place. On some streets there is a lot of controversy as stakeholders debate over having (for example) a bike lane vs. parking vs. a road diet vs. a bus priority lane. If we know it might take a long time to come to consensus on how to stripe the street; we might put sharrows on the street while we work through the issues. More than 30 miles of sharrows have been installed over the past two years.
We hope they are making Seattle feel more safe and comfortable for cycling in by sending the message to share the road! How do you think we could help both drivers and cyclists know what the sharrows mean?
Posted: September 24th, 2009 under Bikes.
People are soft and slow–even on bikes–and vehicles are hard and fast. Bike-car collisions are often lethal or permanently disabling. I would much rather commute in a real bike lane than die or get maimed in a “sharrow.” Am I the only one who feels like he’s being hunted by traffic when cycling down a “sharrow?” Painting bike logos on roads is nothing to be proud of. Constructing real bike lanes is the way forward. Let’s raise the bar!
The stretch of 4th avenue between Pike and Denny is one-way with four very wide lanes and there is more than enough room for a dedicated bicycle lane. There are parked cars all along the left side and when cars try to pass you in the sharrow, it forces you into the car door zone. I don’t understand why something more can’t be done for cyclists as this would be the easiest street in the city to address.
I agree with Andreas that additional signs are needed to strengthen the meaning of sharrows. Currently they seems to mean “look out for bikes in the lane” but make no real demands on driver behavior. Most drivers respond by simply squeezing past cyclists, even at higher speeds downhill, which does not make for pleasant or safe riding conditions.
A sign that indicated “change lanes to overtake cyclists” would have a stronger interpretation (I believe I have seen this in SF). In cases where there is only a narrow lane with double yellow the interpretation should be “do not pass bikes for next xx feet.” In the absence of these additional measures, I have found sharrows effective only on low traffic streets without a center line.
Bryan – you are absolutlely correct – and that clarity is lacking with SDOT’s description of Sharrows which indicates cyclists and cars should “share” the lane. (see below) Most people think “share the lane” means both a cyclists and cars can use the lane AT THE SAME TIME, which we know isn’t possible with most Sharrowed lanes. Consistent use & application of Sharrows across the city should also be a requirement as others have pointed out.
SDOT recently emailed me during an email string letting me know that one particular roadway was increased from a 10′ vehicular lane to a 14′ vehicular lane with added sharrows so now cars and bicyclists can both use the lane and that there should be no conflict; it seemed to me SDOT indicated that I have 4 feet to fit myself between passing vehicles and parked cars (if using the applicable diagram about how to “share the lane” also provided by SDOT at the link below) and that should be plenty of room.
http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/sharrows.htm
Shared lane pavement markings (or “sharrows”) are bicycle symbols carefully placed to guide bicyclists to the best place to ride on the road, avoid car doors and remind drivers to share the road with cyclists. Unlike bicycle lanes, sharrows do not designate a particular part of the street for the exclusive use of bicyclists. They are simply a marking to guide bicyclists to the best place to ride and help motorists expect to see and share the lane with bicyclists.
What do sharrows mean for motorists and bicyclists?
Motorists:
• Expect to see bicyclists on the street
• Remember to give bicyclists three feet of space when passing
• Follow the rules of the road as if there were no sharrows
Bicyclists
• Use the sharrow to guide where you ride within the lane
• Remember not to ride too close to parked cars
• Follow the rules of the road as if there were no sharrows
When SDOT says “Shared lane pavement markings (or “sharrows”) are bicycle symbols carefully placed to guide bicyclists to the best place to ride on the road, avoid car doors …”, they really need to consider where they’re actually placing sharrows.
Quite a few Seattle sharrows are squarely in the door zone of parked cars, one of the most dangerous parts of the road to ride on.
I think it would be good if, before putting down permanent sharrows over the spraypaint layout markings, SDOT’s crews could do a quick sanity check: park the crew truck legally, open the driver’s door, and make sure the sharrow is outside the door zone.
If the door sweeps over the sharrow, move the sharrow out of the door zone.
11 feet is a minimum, not an ideal.
I have found many sharrows are poorly placed. The most offensive being near the right side of a right turn lane. Cyclists should certainly not occupy this space, as they will conflict with other road users turning right. Is there a hotline I can call when I see such inappropriate paint?
Josef,
To avoid the problem you mention, we design our sharrows to be placed to the left side of a dedicated right turn lane and we add a sign that reads “Right Lane Must Turn Right, Except Bicycles”. If you have a specific location in mind where we may have missed installing the sign, please feel free to contact us and we will take a look. For this issue and any other comments or questions related to bicycle facilities, you can call our Walk and Bike Line at (206) 684-7583.
The draft MUTCD language for sharrows goes into more detail on where they’re supposed to be placed.
It depends on whether or not parking is allowed on the street.
If there is no parking, then the sharrow goes near the curb, but far enough into the lane that it’s clear bikes and cars will be sharing the lane.
If on-street parking is allowed, the center line of a sharrow must be a minimum of 11 feet from the curb.
11 feet is bare minimum, and isn’t really a safe distance from the curb when cars are parked at the curb. But it’s far enough out that the sharrow remains visible in the lane when cars are parked.
According to AASHTO numbers, when a cyclist is riding past parked cars, they should be at least 12 feet from the curb. That gets wider as the vehicle gets wider, since the idea is to avoid having a cyclist run into a door that’s flung open into traffic.
As a general rule, when sharrows are placed 11′ out from the curb, cyclists should ride at the left edge of the sharrow. This is near the center of many city street lanes, which is why they’re called “shared lane” markings. Bikes don’t belong in the gutter, they belong in the lane.
Complain as I may from time to time about sharrows, I do have to give SDOT credit for getting to a few very important bike routes this summer (beacon ave, 10th/15th, harvard ave bike lanes, etc.). It still would be great to see fewer sharrows and more bike lanes at the relatively meager cost of a few parking spots (since this is a safety, not a convenience issue). Also, when applying sharrows and bike lanes, it would be good if SDOT could do two additional things while they have their crews on-site:
(1) prepare the pavement surface in a way that is safer for cyclists (e.g. fill in the potholes, cracks and damaged sections of pavement – or at least don’t route cyclists directly into the path of these huge holes)
(2) send a street sweeper to clear the road grit and glass from the streets after painting. obviously it’s not possible to do a perfect job of this at all times, but there are some bike lanes/corridors that are in pretty tough shape.
Thanks for your comments, Andrew. You’ve pointed to two things we’re currently working to improve as we start planning for next year’s projects.
1) As we start design on the corridors for next year we are taking assessment of the asphalt conditions and drain grates this fall so we can make repairs over the winter. That way, when we start striping again next spring we will be working on roadways that are in good condition.
2) Our roadways are swept on a routine schedule. We’re working to sweep the bicycle facilities as part of that routine. In addition to that routine maintainence, we’re going to take you up on your suggestion and add street sweeping needs in new bike facility corridors to our checklist of items to cover in early spring so we’re ready for construction season next summer.
[...] are supposed to make the road safer for cyclists, but if SDOT has to explain what they mean perhaps they’re not doing the [...]
It’s too late now of course, but why wasn’t the option available of one dedicated bicycle lane against the curb with parking for cars on the other side of the road? Sharrows and the question you ask above would be moot points. I’m afraid as soon as the sharrow markings age, there will be no money to repaint them and the lanes they feed into. A dedicated two-way bike lane makes much more sense.
It sounds like you might have a specific location in mind. If you do, let us know and we’ll be happy to step through why we chose to install sharrows in that location. Generally, we use sharrows when it might not be easy to do what you suggest: remove parking from one side of the street to open up enough space for bike lanes on both sides. In some locations we know it will take a while for stakeholders to come to consensus on how to use the limited road space, and we install sharrows while we work through the issues. In addition, in order to avoid the fading you mention, we have established a program to routinely maintain at least 35 miles of bike facilities each year. Thanks for weighing in!
It would be really great if sharrows started to get at least standard placement as outlined here, many are along the right side of the lane.
It does seem counterintuitive to claim sharrows do not indicate where a cyclist is supposed to be in the lane and also carefully calculate their position relative to dangers such as the door zone, rather than simply putting them in the center of the lane.
First, if they’re not already, sharrows should be in the state driver guide so that new drivers will know what they mean from the get-go.
As for letting existing drivers know, what about some signs like this:
A similar sign is featured on this page (about 4/5 down) as an example of poorly used signage—the author suggests that on a sign the symbol doesn’t really make sense. However, with the equals sign and when paired with on-street symbols it seems to me like it may be effective as a way of letting motorists know what the symbols mean.
As an alternative, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any “Bicycles may use full lane” signs in Seattle or maybe even anywhere in WA. Those would be handy in areas where the sharrows are placed in the middle of the lane, as a way of reinforcing that bikes can and should be expected there.
Apparently the img tag isn’t supported (probably wisely). This is the sign I mocked up.
I’m still confused. Perhaps due to the angle on the picture, but that image sure doesn’t seem to show enough room for a car plus a bicycle in the same lane! I feel like this is the case throughout the city with the “sharrows” – almost any car takes up more space than the sharrows seem to allow for.
That’s the point of sharrows, they’re used where there is NOT enough room for a separate bike lane, and indicate that bicycle traffic will be IN the lane with vehicular traffic accordingly and should be expected.