An Open Letter To LADOT – The Importance of Being Safe
June 24, 2010 at 12:12 pm | Posted in Bike News | 8 CommentsTags: 4th Street Bicycle Boulevard, Fountain Ave, LADOT, Rita Robinson, sharrows
LACBC sent this letter to Rita Robinson, LADOT’s General Manager, to continue to stress that LADOT needs to implement correct placement of a bicycle facility, in this case sharrows, to ensure the safety of cyclists.
Rita Robinson
LA Department of Transportation, General Manager
100 S. Main Street, 10th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Dear General Manager Rita Robinson,
We would first off like to thank you for installing LA’s first ever sharrows on our city streets. I know this has been a long process and we are encouraged that LADOT has been making some progress on improving our streets for cyclists.
In an effort to continue moving forward, I’d like to take this opportunity to look at what revisions can be made on the sharrow study and sharrow placement to ensure the safety of cyclists. As this is a study, this offers LADOT, street by street, the perfect opportunity to examine what is working and what is not working to encourage best practices for future sharrows placement on our streets.
On examining the sharrows already placed on Fountain and on 4th street, it is apparent that some issues need to be addressed:
- When placing the sharrow, each street layout needs to be considered carefully in order that the sharrows are consistent with the goals of ensuring safe and proper lane placement for the cyclist and to avoid the door zone.
- The width of each travel lane, variation of street width, number of lanes, the presence of double yellow center lines or dashed center lines, and whether or not there is any center line striping at all are important elements that must be examined when considering proper sharrows placement.
- Sharrows need to be placed in such a way that cyclists can maintain a reasonably straight line of travel, otherwise cyclists are being encouraged to weave in the lane, creating hazardous conditions both for the cyclist and the motorist.
- According to CA MUTCD code, sharrows must be painted immediately after every intersection. This has not been done on Fountain. Instead, many of the sharrows are placed after red curb zones have ended, often far from the intersection.
- Sharrow placement needs to take into consideration right/left turn lanes and position a cyclist in the through lane at all times.
- If a lane is too narrow for both a motorist and cyclist to safely share the lane, sharrows must be placed in such a way that the cyclist is in the safest place possible – the center of the lane.
We would also like to see LADOT make the process, criteria and calculations used to come up with the placement on the current study corridors public. Transparency is essential in creating trust between the city agencies and the cycling community.
We hope that we can continue to work collaboratively on making sure that cyclists’ safety concerns are recognized and accounted for in the planning and engineering of bicycle facilities. This is a first step in the right direction and I am anticipating that we will be seeing much improvement from the initial placement of sharrows on Fountain and 4th Street.
Thank you,
Aurisha Smolarski
Campaign and Communications Director
Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition
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This brings up some good points… I was trying to think whether it makes sense to try to get the pilot changed… of if it might be best to explore these after all the pilot sharrows are on the ground. I am a little worried that if the LADOT receives too much criticism, they could just suspend the pilot, then say “we tried sharrows and they didn’t work.”
I hope that advocates can keep making it clear to Rita Robinson and the LADOT that we really do want some sharrows.
Comment by Joe Linton— June 24, 2010 #
I was thinking the same thing; but if we really want sharrows to work, they need to be done right. I really like the tone of the letter — grateful yet assertive — as I think it captures the community’s (or at least my own) feelings on the project. When you think about it geometrically, this is basically a request to move sharrows back and to the left. I have to assume that LADOT is open and intelligent enough to read it as such, and not as a bunch of whiny bikers who will never be appeased.
Comment by Kyle— June 25, 2010 #
Much love from Alex Kenefick on this one. This is a well written, professional letter. Professionalism: Brought to you by LACBC. Professionalism: an important tool in the toolbox for successful regional bicycle advocacy.
And it looks like LACBC is functioning like more of a player than ever before… Look at you, writin’ open letters and such.
This is the first time I’ve seen a thank you. As much as I feel that LADOT is trying to kill me out there when I’m riding on the roads, I want to thank them for the sharrows. Placement problems aside, I really do like riding down 4SBB and feeling those cars give me extra room.
I saw Stephen and Enci Box out there on 4th street last weekend, they were checking the placement of the sharrows– they had found some bad ones, too—specifically a sharrow that sets people up to be in the middle of the right turn lane on the northeast quadrant of 4th and Vermont.
I only hope that they can share their data with LACBC so a measured, technical criticism can be made, alongside their own.
One final thought. With a bicycle network as underdeveloped as the one in Los Angeles, we don’t need to be careful. LADOT doesn’t need to be careful. We all need to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. We are finally into the Petri dish stage; let’s run some experiments.
Comment by Alex Kenefick— June 25, 2010 #
Does the placement of the sharrows create the false impression that bicycles are only permitted on certain roads?
Comment by David— June 25, 2010 #
[...] in the car racing death of pro cyclist Jorge Alvarado plead not guilty. The LACBC calls on LADOT to do sharrows right, and endorses the Wilshire Bus (and bike) Only Lane along with the Green LA Transportation Working [...]
Pingback by What’s so critical about tonight’s Critical Mass? « BikingInLA— June 25, 2010 #
Something that’s always bugged me about bike lane pavement markings that relates to sharrows is how close they are placed to intersections. It seems to me that motorists turning onto a roadway are mainly focused on watching the traffic coming towards them while they are close to the intersection, not pavement markings. I would argue that more motorists might notice sharrows and bike lane markings better if they are located a bit FURTHER from the intersection.
Comment by Kent Strumpell— June 25, 2010 #
[...] one within the community. Even the LACBC, who has been the chief supporters of the project, have written to the LADOT asking for better care in placing these markings so as not to direct cyclists to drive in an uneven [...]
Pingback by Streetsblog Los Angeles » New Debate: Can Cyclists Fix Sharrows Pilot without Killing It— July 7, 2010 #
Agreed! Straight line of travel is important, and to make it easier on everyone to understand and apply sharrows, just throw them in the middle of whatever usable space is left after you subtract the parking lane.
To make it easier to avoid the bumpy surface of the sharrow, the stencil’s halves could be spread out another inch or two. That way cyclists know to aim for the center of the sharrow; and most importantly, Michelle Meowery will be able to safely ride them, rain or shine.
UCLA’s sharrows seem to have been painted in a much sharper manner, and more low-profile yet still visible. Not sure if this was a different way to apply the paint, but they definitely make for a smoother ride.
Comment by Mihai Peteu— July 8, 2010 #