Rye Shared Roadways Committee Chair Steve Cadenhead sent the following piece to Rye Patch:
Forest Avenue is heavily used for recreational purposes. Residents bike, jog,
walk and push strollers up and down Forest Avenue, and many children also
bike or walk along it to get to school. Because of the narrow roadway and
roadway in the same space that motorists are using. Pedestrians, cyclists
and motorists all are competing for the same space, and the result is
usually unpleasant and potentially life-threatening encounters. In a perfect world there would be dedicated bike lanes and full sidewalks along a corridor as active as this, but the reality is that there is no money available for the required widening of Forest Avenue, and it’s not clear that there’s even the appetite for these types of improvement.
So ? Sharrows are a relatively new, official, standardized
street marking that is used when bike lanes are needed but not feasible.
Studies have shown that sharrows do indeed succeed in reducing the distance between cyclists and motorists. They succeed in reducing incidences of “dooring” (where a motorist exiting a parked car opens the door into the path of the cyclist, causing a collision). Studies show that motorists also tend to drive
more slowly when sharrows are present.
Sharrows also improve the behavior of cyclists, reducing incidences of their
riding the wrong way on the road, or riding on sidewalks. In other words, they improve safety.
Sharrows are in wide used across the country, including in New York City, and have recently begun to appear in Westchester County. Their benefits include improved roadway safety; increased motorist awareness and expectation of non-motorized traffic on the road even when none is visible; low cost (or in this case no cost, as this project to install them has been completely funded by
the Rye YMCA grant); increased community awareness of the needs of non-motorized users, and stimulation of discussion about biking and pedestrian safety in Rye.
Employing sharrows on Forest Avenue is a quick, easy, low cost step toward easing confusion and improving safety on Forest Avenue. It’s easily reversible should they be deemed a failure.
This improvement doesn’t cost taxpayers or the City anything.
the traffic issues on Forest Avenue, but they’re a step in the right direction. Using them is also an acknowledgement that it’s good, not bad, that people are running, walking and cycling in their neighborhoods.
Our streets are a community asset. They belong to the residents and the
community, and are not for the sole benefit of motorists. Installing sharrows is a step towards balancing the needs of non-motorists and motorists on our streets.
Our streets are a community asset. They belong to the residents and the
community, and are not for the sole benefit of motorists. Installing sharrows is a step towards balancing the needs of non-motorists and motorists on our streets.
