By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
More bike sharrows will be showing up this year on city streets.
A schedule of street work and suggestions for bicycle accommodations on city streets are being coordinated so both can take place at the same time when possible. Municipal Administrator Lori Tretter presented City Council with a paving tracking chart on Monday evening.
For this year, sharrows are planned to be added to Thurstin Street and Manville Avenue. Two other streets – Clay and South Maple – are in line for paving and have been recommended to get sharrows by the city’s Bicycle Safety Commission.
“I’m really happy to see” the bicycle accommodations being considered alongside street improvements, council member John Zanfardino said.
As streets are repaved in the city, recommendations by the Bicycle Safety Commission will be put in place if possible. The process will be as follows:
- Annually, the city administration will provide an updated map and paving project schedule. The chart will list the recommended bicycle treatments.
- In cases where bicycle accommodations are recommended, and where that treatment could potentially impact traffic – such as through the removal of street parking- the city’s Transportation and Safety Committee will meet to discuss the bicycle plans.
- The Transportation and Safety Committee will evaluate the streets and determine if any modifications are to be made.
Council member Bill Herald asked that when the paving projects are bid, that the city asks for the costs with and without sharrows.
Last year, Steve Langendorfer, chairman of the Bicycle Safety Commission, talked about the differences between bike lanes and sharrows which are painted bicycle shapes on the pavement.
“Sharrows reinforce that bicycles are vehicles that have all the same rights and responsibilities,” Langendorfer said.
Sharrows are also much less costly. But even the icons are expensive since they cost about $500 a piece and must be placed every 500 feet on the road pavement. Conneaut and Fairview currently have sharrows.
City officials considered the value of creating a sharrow stencil and painting the icons on using city staff. However, Public Works Director Brian Craft said last year that the painted stencils would have to be repainted every year.
The thermo-plastic sharrows, while more expensive, last up to eight years and are reflective at night, Craft said.
Actual bike lanes are recommended by the Bicycle Safety Commission for some streets.
“It would be prohibitively expensive” for Bowling Green to install many bike lanes, Langendorfer said. Plus the lanes would eat up many tree lawns and require work to underground utilities.
However, sharrows don’t segregate cars and bikes, so they aren’t as safe for cyclists.
“The big ship wins,” leaving the bicyclists on the losing side of battles with cars, he said.
City Council’s Transportation and Safety Committee realizes the list of bike priorities could take up to 20 years to achieve. The bike commission members understand.
“We recognize these won’t be done all at once,” Langendorfer said. “We just need to plug away at a few streets a year.”
Based on a ranking system looking at the frequency of bicycling on the streets, the potential for adjacent bicycling destinations, and the connection to current or future bicycling routes, the commission made the following suggestions last year.
Recommendations for north-south streets for sharrows:
- Wintergarden (Poe to Sand Ridge)
- Maple (Conneaut to Sand Ridge)
- Fairview (north of Poe) [Note: south of Poe already has sharrows]
- Grove (Poe to Sand Ridge)
- Church (Clay to Sand Ridge) and Kenwood (Sand Ridge to Napoleon)
- Prospect (Poe to E. Napoleon) and/or N. & S. Enterprise (Poe to Lehman
- Thurstin (Poe to E. Wooster) and Manville (E. Wooster to E. Napoleon)
- North College (south of Poe Road) and South College (Main to Napoleon)
- Troup Street (from Scott Hamilton to East Wooster) [only 2 blocks]
Recommendations for east west streets for sharrows:
- Newton (from Community Center to North College)
- Frazee (from Fairview to North College)
- East Merry (Thurstin to Mercer)
- Clay and Ridge (Main to Mercer)
- West Wooster (Wintergarden to Haskins)
- Clough (Main to Mercer) [need to consider dangerous curve around windmill]
- Pearl (Wintergarden to Main)
- Napoleon (Kenwood to South College only)
Recommendations for priority streets for bike lanes:
- Haskins Road (Community Center to West Wooster)
- Brim Road (Newton to West Poe)
- Main Street (from Newton to Gypsy Lane)
- Wooster (from Wintergarten/Haskins to Mercer and join with new East Wooster pedestrian-bike path)
- Poe Road (Mitchell to North Dunbridge)
- Napoleon Road (South College to South Dunbridge)
- Gypsy Lane Road (Sand Ridge to Klotz Road. and/or South Dunbridge)
