The flipside of the sharrow

[Robert Abraham]

Hi all,

Recently I made an excursion up to Ventura. While walking through the main downtown area, I noticed that they have sharrows on most of the roads, but I also spotted something I've never seen before. I've ridden through the area many times, so I am aware of the sharrows. The markings are the same white echelons and image of a bike, but they are highlighted by a solid green box, similar to what we are seeing around here to mark up bike lanes. However. What caught my attention was a sign that is mounted on the pole behind the normal white "sharrow" signage. It is a red sign with an image of a bike, stating "Wrong way" and below is a white sign that reads "ride with traffic". This struck me as an absolutely brilliant idea. It may be something to suggest to our local planners. The signage would be well worth it, regardless of sharrows.



- Robert

[karlos]

Robert - Both those signs are great and they are in Chapter 9B - Bicycle signs of the CA MUTCD, signs R5-1b and R9-3cP (the "R" prefix means these signs are Regulatory, meaning "It's the LAW, dangit!") Anything in the MUTCD is fair game for municipalities to use on their roadways.

You are correct in that I don't see them very often, but it might be good to advocate for their placement, especially where you see bike riders riding the wrong way. You may remember from the Smart Cycling class that wrong way riding is one of the most common causes of vehicle-bicycle collisions and of course, the cyclist is fully at fault.

[karlos]

fyi - sorry for the acronym. MUTCD = Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The main MUTCD is at the federal level (FHWA = Federal Highway Administration) and both these signs are also in the FHWA MUTCD, meaning these are signs that can be used all across the USA. The MUTCD exists so that as we travel across the country and from city to city within CA, signage is consistent so we all know what they mean unambiguously.