TO: Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager
FROM: J.B. Culpepper, Planning
Director
David Bonk, Long Range and Transportation Coordinator
SUBJECT: Response to a Petition Requesting Implementation of a Sharrow Program
DATE: September 27, 2006
This report responds to a petition requesting that the Council implement a sharrow program along shared lane roads to educate motorists on the need to accommodate bicyclists.
At the June 26, 2006 meeting, the Council received a petition from the Transportation Board requesting that the Council implement a sharrow program along shared lane roads to educate motorists on the need to accommodate bicyclists. (Please see Attachment 1.) The Board also supported the provision of a public awareness campaign, using signs on the backs of buses, to further educate motorists. This memorandum does not respond to the part of the petition regarding using signs on the back of buses.
A sharrow is a shared road marking, also known as the shared lane arrow, shared use arrow, shared lane symbol, shared lane marking and bike in a house.
The purpose of the marking is to identify the shared use of a travel lane by bicyclists and passing motorists, indicating the legal and appropriate bicyclist line of travel; it cues motorists to pass bicyclists with sufficient clearance. The symbol may be used in locations where there is insufficient width to mark a separate, striped bicycle lane. This could include two-lane or multi-lane highways. (Please see Attachment 2 for more details.)
At this time sharrow markings are not currently included in the latest edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). The Manual is published by the Federal Highway Administration and is approved as the national standard for designing, applying, and planning traffic control devices. The Manual is the national standard for all traffic control devices installed on any street, highway, or bicycle trail open to public travel. The Manual defines the standards used by traffic engineers nationwide to install and maintain traffic control devices on all streets and highways. The Manual is used by the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the Town for this purpose. Because the sharrow lane marking has not yet been incorporated into the Manual, the Town is not able to implement a sharrow program on either State-maintained or Town-maintained streets.
Sharrow markings are currently being evaluated in Portland, Oregon as part of an approved experiment with the Federal Highway Administration. The marking has been implemented in San Francisco, following completion of a similarly approved experiment for the Federal Highway Administration. On completion of the San Francisco evaluation the results provided guidance to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) which adopted the Shared Lane Marking in the California Supplement to the Manual.
If the Town Council wishes to implement a sharrow program, we suggest two options for the Council’s consideration. We could wait until a future edition of the Manual includes the marking and the Town would have authority to use it; the next edition of the Manual is anticipated in 2008. Alternatively the Town could apply to the Federal Highway Administration for authorization to undertake an experimental evaluation program.
Experimental authorization would require the Town to develop an evaluation plan that would provide for monitoring of the experiment in its field implementation. The evaluation would include before and after studies as well as quantitative data describing the performance of the experimental device.
We have had preliminary discussions with staff from the Federal Highway Administration and the UNC Highway Safety Research Center who are interested in participating in a possible experimental evaluation.
We believe that the Town could make a strong application for experimental authorization to use the marking at a test location in Chapel Hill. We believe that the marking could be used on either a State-maintained street or on a Town-Maintained street, where bicyclists share a travel lane with motorists. We will request that the North Carolina Department of Transportation consider participation in the sharrow evaluation. If the Department does not wish to participate we would limited to implementing the sharrow evaluation along Town-maintained street(s).
We recommend that the Council direct the staff to continue discussions with the Federal Highway Administration to determine the full extent of the sharrow evaluation program. We propose that staff provides a follow-up report to the Town Council outlining the requirements of the evaluation program and identify resources necessary to complete the evaluation. We would also discuss possible participation in the evaluation program with the North Carolina Department of Transportation. We anticipate the follow-up report would be provided to the Council in December 2006. Alternatively, the Council could chose to take no action.