Bike lanes next to parking – how wide is wide enough?


In this excllent post by Jack Cochrane in Cycle MoCo Jack discusses an issue important to all Maryland cyclists, door zone bike lanes. While I'll highlight his solution the rest of his post is worth reading:

The Alternative:  Sharrows

If 14 feet is not available for the bike lane + parking, I recommend sharrows as the preferable solution.  Maryland law requires cyclists to use bike lanes where they’re present, but riders can legally ignore sharrows.   So even if they’re painted unreasonably close to parked cars (Maryland standards call for them to be at least 11 feet from the curb, which puts cyclists in the door  zone again), cyclists are free to ignore them.  Sharrows give cyclists the discretion to ride where they feel it’s safest.   Sharrows ideally should be painted 12′ or 13′ from the curb when there’s parking.  Or they can be painted down the center of the right lane as seen on George Mason Drive in Arlington.  New ideas are being tried all the time.  Here is an interesting hybrid of a bike lane and a sharrow.

So my request to Montgomery County and the state: either 14 foot bike lanes next to parked cars or sharrows or sometimes no bike-specific markings at all.



http://cyclemoco.com/2012/04/bike-lanes-next-to-parking-–-how-wide-is-wide-enough/

by B' Spokes

Like most people I live a hectic life and who has the time for much exercise? Thanks to xtracycle now I do. By using my bike for daily activities I can get things done and get an hour plus work out in 15 minutes extra of my time, not a bad deal and beats taking the extra time going to the gym. In case you are still having trouble being motivated; the National Center of Disease Control says that inactivity is the #2 killer in the United States just behind smoking. ( http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/bb_nutrition/ ) Get out there and start living life! I can carry home a full shopping cart of groceries, car pool two kids or just get lost in the great outdoors camping for a week. Well I got go, another outing this weekend.
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