Spring brings repaving, and repaving on NW 18th and 19th in my neighborhood means the permanent installation of sharrows! We got temporary markers last fall, but now the real things are going in. Yeah!
But this one has me confused. This is NW 18th northbound just before Everett St. (sorry for the cell-phone quality photo). The right-only turn lane forces cars off on Everett to create the space where the bike lane starts just after Everett.
As a cyclist going north, I’m not sure what I’m legally supposed to do. Pre-sharrows, I would have put my bike in the right edge of the left-hand through lane, since the right lane is turn-only.
But the sharrows would seem to say I should be in the right lane. Indeed, the sharrows line up perfectly with the line of travel for the bike lane that starts after Everett. Is it legal for me to use the right lane even though I’m not turning?
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Spring brings repaving, and repaving on NW 18th and 19th in my neighborhood means the permanent installation of sharrows! We got temporary markers last fall, but now the real things are going in. Yeah!
But this one has me confused. This is NW 18th northbound just before Everett St. (sorry for the cell-phone quality photo). The right-only turn lane forces cars off on Everett to create the space where the bike lane starts just after Everett.
As a cyclist going north, I’m not sure what I’m legally supposed to do. Pre-sharrows, I would have put my bike in the right edge of the left-hand through lane, since the right lane is turn-only.
But the sharrows would seem to say I should be in the right lane. Indeed, the sharrows line up perfectly with the line of travel for the bike lane that starts after Everett. Is it legal for me to use the right lane even though I’m not turning?
Is our bicycle coordinator reading this? Or maybe Ray Thomas? Help!
6 responses to “Perplexed Cyclist”
Well, since bikes are considered autos, and have to follow the same law, if you are in the right lane, don’t you have to turn right?
I’d just squeeze into the left lane, then merge back into the bike lane on the next block. It’s only legal.
Justin, that’s exactly what I would have thought. But the sharrow seems to be encouraging me to make the through movement in the right lane.
Thus my perplexed state!
At this intersection it is legal for people on bikes to continue straight from the right-turn lane. This treatment is not unique to this intersection; we’ve done this at numerous intersections around the city. We do this when we’re forced to drop the bicycle lane because of the demands of automotive traffic or, when we’re unable to start a bicycle lane until after this type of right-turn drop lane (“drop” because the lane disappears with the right-turn).
When we first striped the bicycle lanes on 18th we realized that–due to considerations for automotive traffic–we couldn’t start them until after Everett. Recognizing that the bicycle lane on the north side of Everett would line up well with the right-turn lane, and also recognizing that people riding bicycles have a natural tendency to stay right, we put a sign at the intersection: “Right-Turn Only Except Bikes.” That “Except Bikes” rider is what makes it legal for cyclists to go straight through the right-turn lane. The shared lane markings reinforce that.
Roger beat me to the full explanation.
The only thing that I have to add is that bicycles have been allowed to go straight through this intersection from the right-hand lane for years – since long before the sharrows were first painted on.
That is confusing.
I would have assumed that the point is to keep the bikes out of the primary traffic path.
Adron – I believe there is not enough room for a bike lane there.