While reading that sharrow road markings were making their way to some bicycle routes in Arkansas, I was surprised to learn that they're not yet a federally sanctioned marking for roads.
Sharrows are shared lane markings designed to remind motorists that bicyclists have the right to use the roads and will be present. Many bicycling advocates prefer them to bicycles lanes.
First used in Europe about 20-30 years ago, they're becoming more common in many US cities.
Not official
The markings, however, are just now under official review for the US Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Because they're not yet officially included in the manual that seeks conformity for all road signals and markings, communities must get approval from the Federal Highway Adminstration before installing them.
There are a couple of sharrow designs, the one above is the proposed standard in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. It's about 3-foot-3 wide by 9-foot-3 long.
Another is essentially a three-sided box with an arrow on top and a bicycle inside. That's called “bike in a house” and is falling out of use in favor of the above symbol.
Online links
Proposed changes to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices were published a year ago. According to a Federal Highway Administration website, the manual changes are under review and will be finalized in 2009.
The manual and changes are all posted online. You can read about the changes at Proposed Amendments to the MUTCD. All the traffic signal changes are shown in the Proposed Figures document (.pdf); all the changes concerning bicycles are in section 9, starting on page 380. The sharrow is pictured on page 398.
Sharrows are in use in many US cities, such as Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Denver, Pittsburgh, and New York City. (More information here and here.) Their arrival in central Arkansas shows more widespread accepted use.
Arkansas
The Arkansas Democrat Gazette reports that North Little Rock is seeking the use of sharrows as part of its plan to become a bicycle-friendly city. Arkansas Bicycle Club president Jim Britt said:
“It looks like they are trying to conform to what will become or hope to become a national standard. It's the beginning of recognition that bicyclists are out there. We're just trying to make use of the streets and get somewhere [just like motorists]. … We still get people who don't think bicycles are supposed to be on city streets.”
The central Arkansas communities will limit sharrows to urban roads with speed limits of 35 mph or less.
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