Share-what?
They're 10-foot-long painted symbols of arrows over a bike, indicating that motorists share the road with cyclists. On Third Street between Orange and Higgins, they appear at the beginning of each block.
A study in San Francisco showed cyclists traveled farther away from parked cars after sharrows were painted, said Bob Giordano, executive director of the Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation and longtime bike advocate. Already, they appear to be having an impact on the newly painted routes in Missoula, he said.
Giordano has watched traffic flow on Third to see if there's actually sharing going on with the newly painted chevrons and bikes. And there is. He's seen cars move closer to the centerline and bikes farther out from the dangerous door zone.
“I think it's doing what it's intended to: to give cyclists a little bit more room and to let everyone know to be patient and share this roadway,” Giordano said.
He's also heard people wondering what the symbols are all about. One person speculated that they were smaller than the standard size, so Giordano pulled out a measuring tape. He measured them at 3 feet, 3 inches wide and 10 feet, 8 inches tall.
“They comply beautifully with the other sharrows around the country,” he said.
“It's a good first step,” said Jim Sayer, president with the newly formed nonprofit called Bike-Walk Alliance for Missoula.
And he and Giordano already know other routes where they'd like to see the symbols. Beckwith, an important cross-town connector, would be a good choice, as would Higgins and Broadway, they said.
Now that the city has a set of sharrows painted, King said his Public Works Department will see how they work - and how they wear.
He would like to see the markings where Higgins meets Brooks and also on Van Buren Street beneath Interstate 90. The bicycle and pedestrian board will discuss locations, and in some cases the Montana Department of Transportation also needs to grant permission for the symbols.
Along major four-lane arterials, Giordano said he wants to be sure that sharrows don't serve as substitutes for bike lanes. Along arterials, they're an intermediate step but not a long-term solution, as those streets still need bike lanes, he said.
Reporter Keila Szpaller can be reached at 523-5262 or at Keila.Szpaller@missoulian.com.
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