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Grandville Avenue Rebuild

GRDadof3

By GRDadof3
in Grand Rapids

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trongrr Whistle-Stop

trongrr

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The long awaited rebuild of Grandville Ave between Oakes and Weston is upon us. There was talk of adding bicycle lanes, but instead the city will add sharrows. Bike lanes will be added from Oakes down to Wealthy.

I've never heard of a 'sharrow' before - and thanks to the power of Google... a sharrow:

yQoqA.jpg

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fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

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Bike race on it August 20.

http://www.grcyclingclassic.com/

People that I've talked to about this say that the bike race will have to be detoured because of the construction. Not the coolest thing in the world for your first year hosting the USPRO Criterium National Championships ( http://www.usacyclin...ory.php?id=5498 ), but I'm sure they'll make it work.

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RegalTDP Burg

RegalTDP

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I hope the idea going forward using smart design in GR will alleviate things like this:

offtopic.gif

Great video. There are so many places in my Boston neighborhood that are just like that. Incidentally, here's a story about a "Bicycle Priority Lane" they've put on Longwood Avenue in Brookline, MA.

http://www.boston.co..._a_bicycle.html

Longwood Ave.'s a two lane suburban street that gets bumper-to-bumper during commuting hours. Parallel parking is on one side, which is the side with the priority lane markers. The opposite side has no parking and a curbside bike lane.

I'm on Longwood frequently as a driver or a pedestrian, and I can attest that most cyclists are more comfortable clinging to the side of the road, rather than the middle.

I've never heard of a 'sharrow' before - and thanks to the power of Google... a sharrow:

Are there any other sharrows in GR, or will this street be the first?

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fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

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I saw some sharrows on Cherry, I believe Lake Drive, and Wealthy in EGR. Some of them were very worn and are becoming difficult to see.

There are sharrows on Cherry from Lake Drive to Eastern and on Lake Drive from Carlton to Wealthy that were part of the "Complete Street"/bike lane project installed on Lake Drive last year.

The sharrows have faded pretty significantly and need to be repainted with and possibly done in a different material on the brick to see if they can find something that would hold up better.

As for the topic in the project, I personally think that sharrows are a very appropriate solution for the one block of road being redone because it doesn't have high traffic speeds or volumes. I am also quite happy about the bicycle lanes to be installed to the south, connecting to Founders and the Transit Center, two areas that see a good amount of bicycle riders. You also see a lot of bicyclists riding towards Wealthy to head west over the river to Kent Trail and Millennium Park. That stretch of Wealthy from Grandville to Front St (west of the river) also seems like a perfect candidate for a road diet, creating a nice connector route between Downtown and Millennium Park/Kent Trail/Oxford St Trail.

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walker Burg

walker

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So how many bicyclists and motor vehicle drivers a like in Grand Rapids know what a sharrow represents and what they are supposed to do? I'd guess maybe a hundred and most of them just read about them here in this thread. I know until yesterday they just confused me and I like to think that I'm well informed. Seems to me they’re not very useful if hardly anyone knows what they mean.

yQoqA.jpg

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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So how many bicyclists and motor vehicle drivers a like in Grand Rapids know what a sharrow represents and what they are supposed to do? I'd guess maybe a hundred and most of them just read about them here in this thread. I know until yesterday they just confused me and I like to think that I'm well informed. Seems to me they’re not very useful if hardly anyone knows what they mean.

It means share the road with bikes. Which actually you're supposed to do anyway, but it's more of an awareness tool. It's like a sign showing a pedestrian crossing area; it just means to be aware that there may be pedestrians crossing.

The problem with them wearing fast is, unlike normal lane stripes, they sit right where car tires cross so they wear faster.

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fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

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So how many bicyclists and motor vehicle drivers a like in Grand Rapids know what a sharrow represents and what they are supposed to do? I'd guess maybe a hundred and most of them just read about them here in this thread. I know until yesterday they just confused me and I like to think that I'm well informed. Seems to me they’re not very useful if hardly anyone knows what they mean.

So what did you think they meant when you saw it?

And there were at least two hundred people at the Grand Rapids Bicycle Summit in May who know what they mean. :)

There's certainly education to be done, but this is in the MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices), the standard book of traffic control devices/signs that attempts to insure they look the same everywhere in the US. You'll likely see it used more. As it's used more, people will learn what it means.

Maybe when they become more widespread, a wider education campaign can be justified.

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walker Burg

walker

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So what did you think they meant when you saw it?

Couldn't figure it out because obviously it doesn’t mean bike lane only and as Dad said vehicle drivers and bikers are to share the road anyway, so it really means nothing different than normal, thus my confusion. I can kind of see it being helpful for bikers if it indicates a temporary gap between two dedicated bike lanes or paths, but I don’t think that’s the case where it’s been used in Grand Rapids.

And there were at least two hundred people at the Grand Rapids Bicycle Summit in May who know what they mean. :)

I'll revise my estimate then upward to three-hundred.

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RegalTDP Burg

RegalTDP

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Couldn't figure it out because obviously it doesn’t mean bike lane only and as Dad said vehicle drivers and bikers are to share the road anyway, so it really means nothing different than normal, thus my confusion. I can kind of see it being helpful for bikers if it indicates a temporary gap between two dedicated bike lanes or paths, but I don’t think that’s the case where it’s been used in Grand Rapids.

Well, in this case, it kinda works that way. Since there will be a dedicated bike lane that ends at Oakes, the sharrows would be like an extension of that.

People will get it. They always complain about new markings and reconfigured roads, but they figure it out pretty quick. You put in a simple traffic circle and everyone hollers like Chernobyl just melted down. But they get over it.

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