James D. Mackay, PE, a bicycle planner working in Denver, CO, has provided some nice jpegs of their "Share the Road" signs and bike-related pavement stencils, some of which are reproduced here. In 1990, Mr. Mackay was a bicycle facilities engineer in Raleigh, NC, working in the NC DOT Bicycle Program, one element of which was a statewide "Share the Road" program.

In Denver they are also using pavement markings to assist cyclists. The stencil indicates where to ride in the lane for safety and comfort.

For example, where concrete curb and gutter sections are installed alongside the traveled pavement there is a continuous joint running parallel to the direction of travel which can be dangerous for cyclists. The point of the arrow head stencil is located several feet to the left of the joint, providing adequate clearance from that joint. Likewise, the stencil can be used to give guidance when parked cars are a potential hazard.

The following are useful links for the City of Denver:

Bike Map Information: http://198.202.202.66/Bicycle_Program/template31482.asp

Bike Rack Standards: http://www.denvergov.org/Bicycle_Program/template2606.asp

Mr. Mackay may be contacted as follows:

James Mackay, P.E.
Denver Bicycle Planner
200 West 14th Ave., Room 302
Denver, Colorado 80204-2700
James.Mackay@ci.denver.co.us
Ph. 720-865-BIKE Fax 720-865-3282
WWW.Denvergov.org

Tom Norman, an engineer with the Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation, NC DOT, provided information on December 6 concerning "Share the Road" signs and their statewide STR program. He advised me that while there may have been a poster used for promotional purposes that said "Share the Road - It's the Law," official NC DOT signs are federal MUTCD (Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices) approved.

NC DOT use a bicycle symbol in a diamond on a yellow ground with a plaque, or subplate below and the text "Share the Road." He added they are now using the new high visibility yellow-green sign which is more expensive. Staying with the official MUTCD sign allows them to tap into CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality improvement) or other federal funds, e.g. safety funds.

Mr. Norman faxed me a page from the North Carolina Bicycle Facilities Planning and Design Guidelines(January 1994) manual (Appendix 4, p 93). This illustrates the sign complete with dimensions and makes recommendations for its use. I recreated the sign using CorelDraw which allowed for the addition of color and some text and reproduce it below.

Quoting from the manual:

"Warning signs
Share the road (W28-1):
This subplate, when combined with the W11-1 warning sign, is intended to increase bicyclists' visibility without designating the signed roadway as a preferred route. It is intended for use on roadways with high levels of bicycle traffic, but relatively hazardous conditions for bicyclists. Its intention is not to encourage inexperienced bicyclists to ride on the roadway as a preferred route.
This sign is especially useful in cities and towns where there are a large number of bicyclists riding on streets which are unsuitable for designation as preferred bicycle routes due to factors such as narrow lanes, high speed traffic and/or high traffic volumes."

Mr. Norman said that the DOT group which does research on highway issues has never studied the impact of "Share the Road" signs but the department does get anecdotal input from bicyclists expressing appreciation for the signs. He added: "We have put up these signs throughout the state and have not heard back from anyone complaining that the sign is unclear or objecting to them."

When asked about critics who suggest that "Share the Road" signs could be interpreted as "Share the Lane" signs, leading to conflicts for bicyclists on narrow lanes, Mr. Norman said he was unaware of such problems.

On the basis of this conversation and NC DOT's experience I have concluded that it would be best to push for installation of this sign wherever appropriate, interpreting NC DOT's guidelines as liberally as possible. Mr. Norman may be contacted as follows:

E-mail: tnorman@dot.state.nc.us; tel: 919 715 2341; fax: 919 715 4422.

The signs were the work of the Chesterfield Chamber of Commerce, working with the Chesterfield Police Department and others. They were ordered by the police department from Correctional Industries (since renamed Missouri Vocational Enterprises) in the Jefferson City prison.

In August 1996 the Missouri Bicycle Federation published the results of a survey of seven different "Share the Road" sign designs which originally appeared in the March issue of Pro Bike News. Those seven signs are shown below, plus one I've added - the sign third from the left on the bottom row.

Some of the conclusions of that survey:

Some, including myself, have expressed a preference for a sign telling motorists they are expected to "Share the Road" with bicyclists and "It's the Law" to do so, rather than one simply conveying the message that there may be a bicyclist on the road. One version of a potentially stronger sign, not MUTCD-approved, is illustrated here, and is favored by some SLRBF members.

However, this feedback was obtained before the latest information from NC DOT and Denver, Co., which may well swing opinion towards the MUTCD-signs used by those government agencies, evidently with good effect. The adoption of the NC DOT/Denver sign would certainly ease implementation locally, as well as potentially in other parts of the state, and doesn't appear to involve significant compromise of outcome.