Sharrows vs Bike Lane

[indysteel]

Interesting. I've never heard the word "sharrow" before and wonder if Indianapolis even utilizes them. Is that what a "share the road" sign if supposed to connote? If it does, I doubt the average motorist understands that.

Indy's handful of bike lanes are ill conceived in my opinion. Most are typcially full of debris and those that are downtown have some pretty scary interfaces with traffic. The changes they made to the actual traffic lanes are confusing as a motorist. So, it's the worst of both worlds. I preferred it before when I just took the lane as I saw fit.

[Thorn]

Interesting. I've never heard the word "sharrow" before and wonder if Indianapolis even utilizes them. Is that what a "share the road" sign if supposed to connote? If it does, I doubt the average motorist understands that.

I don't think so. I think "Share the Road" signs are like "Please Don't Litter" signs -- reminders that we're supposed to act nice, nothing more. My cynic side says a waste of money -- the people who need them won't get the message; the people who share the road/don't litter don't need the sign.

To compound things, I've read elsewhere that some drivers think that the Share the Road sign isn't directed at them, but at the bicyclist! As in, yield to the motor traffic! Egads.

I always thought sharrows are supposed to be painted down the middle of the lane. This thread is the first time I've heard they're painted at the edge. That's really odd. I can see why that would be confusing.

[Roadtrip]

Thanks!! It's as I thought... just signage to try and make motorists more aware of cyclist on the road and not a proper sharrow.

The road gets really heavy traffic and the pic I posted was of the road down the hill from me that was actually widened and repaved in 03' and has MUCH wider berms then the road where I've seen the signs pop up at... about half the width actually, plus you have places where turn lanes mean the berm gets taken way like Becky describes. Meaning if your a cyclist you're GOING to have to merge left or get run off the road. With cars traveling at 40mph I'm sure this could be REALLY harrowing.

According the the city's own bike map this stretch of road is listed as "avoid" and hazardous...

I guess something is better then nothing. There are parts of town where they've installed honest to goodness bike lanes.

http://www.urbancincy.com/2009/12/ci...g-dana-avenue/

I cringe at the thought of riding on the street in this town.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR


Shannon

[indysteel]

That looks like a decent bike path.

I'm going to rant a bit about Indy's for a second. I happen to park in a lot that's part of the Federal Building in downtown Indy. About two years ago, they retroactively "installed" bike lanes on stretches of two one-way streets that travel east and west through the heart of downtown. To accomodate the bike lane, they reconfigured the lanes and, for whatever reason, there are spots where it went from four down to two lanes (with the third being a dedicated turn lane or parking lane). Of course, the traffic volume in the morning didn't change, so it soon became a mess each morning.

I've since moved, but when I lived near downtown, I traveled on the the westbound road every day. The bike lane runs right next to the guard station for the Federal Building. This is one of the spots where the lanes have been reduced down to two, along with a left turn lane). To pull into the guard station to park in the lot or make a delivery, you turn right--right into the bike lane. As you might imagine, it's horribly dangerous for all involved.

In the thick of rush hour, vehicles tend to back up right outside the guard station, as we have to stop, present i.d. and then wait until the arm goes up and the gates down to pull through. Now, I won't block the bike lane, but plenty of other cars do. But when I or somebody else holds our ground, there's usually some jerk behind us bleeping their horn and yelling expletives for us to pull to the right (into the bike lane) so that other traffic can get through. Plus, some delivery trucks can't pull in far enough so they end up blocking the lane or, even better, they pull past the guard station and park on the far right side of the road--right on top of the bike lane. And because the guards have to fully inspect the truck inside and out, it can sit there 5 to 10 minutes.

It's a cluster every day.

Not long after the bike lanes were installed, I contacted the group that was in charge of working with the city on them. I suggested additional signage that specifcially indicated that vehicles are not to block the bike lane and to urge drivers to be aware of approaching cyclists. While I got an email thanking me for my input, NOTHING has changed. This, despite the fact that there have already been some accidents at this interface.

Now, I realize that most of the problems are caused by motorists, not bicyclists, but for one, the lane is just not safe and, for another, it just engenders nothing but irritation and hatred among motorists. As much of a cyclist as I am, I myself hate being on this stretch of road. You can't just put a bike lane on any given road and then hope for the best. It's just not that easy.

End of rant.

[Owlie]

When they revamped the major surface street here that runs into downtown, they made a lot of changes to the bus stops, and added a bike lane. Problem is, many of the intersections around here make no sense whatsoever (even to people who live here) and you get a lot of traffic because of the hospitals. Add buses and a bike lane that disappears and reappears seemingly randomly and