What the heck does this mean?

October 17, 2008

bikelane

bikelane1.jpg

You've probably seen these symbols being plastered all over San Carlos streets the past few days.   They are all over Arroyo and Cedar, and crews are out in full force today laying down more of these “interesting” signs  The question I have is…what exactly is this symbol supposed to mean?    I have asked several residents, and I'm getting several different answers so clearly I'm not the only one confused (thank goodness.)

Obviously, it's a bicycle plus an arrow….but is it supposed to tell us?   It's clearly not a bike lane because these signs are nearly in the middle of the traffic lanes.   Are they supposed to tell riders which side of the road to ride on?  Geez, I hope not.  Or does it designate a bike route?   If so, to where?  Are they reminders to drivers that they need to share the road with cyclists?

All I know is that they distract me way more than they should when I'm driving.   Any ideas???

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7 Comments

  1. Ken Norton on October 17, 2008 at 8:55 pm

    It’s a reminder to motorists that cyclists are allowed full use of the lane. There’s no such thing as a “designated bike route” – bicycles are permitted to use any surface street that cars are.

    CVC 21202 (a.)



  2. chuck on October 17, 2008 at 9:11 pm

    Thanks for the clarification, Ken. As a cyclist, I’m certainly for any type of additional protection from cars. However, I hope this doesn’t mean they’re going to paint these on every street. They have put a ton of them down already, and they’re a tad unsightly.

    But thanks again for clarifying what they mean…



  3. Ken Norton on October 18, 2008 at 10:35 pm

    P.S. I just learned these are called “sharrows”:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_lane_marking



  4. Bill on October 19, 2008 at 9:56 pm

    What a ridiculous waste of taxpayer money and a blight on the city’s streets. How about first repainting the many faded/disappearing crosswalks around our schools to protect our children…seems like this should be a bigger priority.



  5. chuck on October 21, 2008 at 11:48 am

    Bill,

    I tend to agree with you. There are so many of these on the street now that it’s actually distracting to drivers. In some ways it might protect the kids who are riding bikes to school, but in general they’re pretty unsightly.

    Thanks for writing in…

    CG



  6. chuck on October 21, 2008 at 7:33 pm

    Ken,

    Nice find! I have heard the term “sharrow” before, but I never knew exactly what it was. Now I do. Thanks for passing that along.

    Chuck



  7. Chuck on November 13, 2008 at 1:33 am

    The City of San Carlos put an FAQ on their site about sharrows. Here’s the link:

    http://www.cityofsancarlos.org/publicworks/sharrows_faq.asp



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