For Immediate Release: August 6, 2008

WINTER PARK – an internationally recognized ICMA Excellence Award winner – Attention all bicyclists, motorists and road users! In an effort to improve traffic safety for cyclists and drivers alike, the City of Winter Park has added shared lane bicycle markings (sharrows) on Palmer Avenue, designating the street as an east-west bicycle route. The shared lanes between Alabama Drive and Lakemont Avenue are now complete. The shared lanes between Park Avenue and Alabama Drive will be complete when the current construction on Palmer Avenue is finished in approximately three weeks.

These markings are intended to inform cyclists and motorists that the travel lane may be shared by both vehicles. They have been proven to be helpful in places where cyclists often ride too close to parked cars, where motorists could squeeze cyclists against curbs*, and in situations where it is not always clear where cyclists should be riding, such as intersections with multiple turning lanes.

When traffic lanes are too narrow to be shared by bicyclists and passing motorists side-by-side, the new shared lane markings can reduce the incidence of wrong-way cycling and eliminate some of the need for bike route signs, thereby reducing sign clutter.

The city plans to install these markings on other roadways designated as bicycle routes in the city’s updated Pedestrian and Bicycle Circulation Plan. For more information, please contact the city’s Public Works Department at 407-599-3411.

When I ride on a multi-lane road, I tend to ride a little farther left than on a 2-lane road because there is no reason for straddle-passing — motorists can use the other lane. On a 2-lane road I try to find the balance between facilitating safe passing and discouraging attempts to pass when it is not safe. Most of the time that’s somewhere between the right tire track and the middle of the lane. On really narrow lanes (9ft), the right tire track is fine because the presence of a cyclist visually fills half the lane.

I love Yehuda, except when he’s painting bike lanes. Ech! He should know better.

Fighting mythologies and taboos takes time and patience… and a bit of strategy.

Yehuda Moon has it all together.

On a more relevant note, my commute in the Daytona area takes me all over, on no regular path and the roads are certainly under 14 feet in width. I’ve found that I have to ride in the center, or sometimes left of center to keep dangerous passing attempts at bay and this is on multi-lane roads. I’m also in the less-than-enviable-position of being the only VC practising rider in east central Volusia county, to the best of my knowledge. It’s lonely in the middle of the road sometimes

Even one of the local bike shops is staffed with those who would practice and promote inferiority cycling, unfortunately. I had observed one of the staff riding on an 8 foot lane, on the 3 inch paint stripe and on the 3 inch pavement to the right of that. To that right was the guardrail. I rode alongside and told him he “needed to get into the road” and he waved me off, unfortunately. Upon visiting the shop, I unfortunately let my adrenaline from riding take over my better judgement and ended up arguing with the three inhabitants of the store. The same old tired arguments: bikes have no rights to using the road, roads were not designed for biking, it’s inconsiderate to slow down the drivers, probably every argument a VC rider has heard before, but this was so much more painful for being heard in a bike shop from alleged bicyclists.

Having sharrows all over this county might go some distance to alleviating this ridiculous attitude. By the way, it was suggested that I leave the shop! LOL I probably won’t be back, but it’s my own fault.