Give me a sign

Bike routes need names

Posted by Alan Durning (Guest Contributor) at 2:57 PM on 20 Sep 2007

Read more about: placemaking | bikes

Generic bike route sign I recently bicycled from Seattle to Bellevue, Washington, across Lake Washington on the I-90 floating bridge. This trip is not complicated. Once you're on the wide, well-shielded bike lane, you'd think that getting to Bellevue would be assured. You'd be wrong. First, you have to get across Mercer Island.

On the island, the bike route leaves the freeway and vanishes into a labyrinth of branching paths. They're beautiful bikeways, no doubt: wide, separated from traffic, well-graded, gracefully curved for smooth cornering -- a pleasure to ride. But they're almost entirely unmarked. Where there are signs at all, they only say "Bike Route." (All of them are bike routes. Duh!) Imagine traveling in a city without street signs -- or with ones that only say "Car Route." Next time you see a sign like the one above that says "Bike Route," remember, it's a symptom of Car-head. (Photo by orangejack via Flickr.)

Ending bicycle neglect -- with all the benefits that would bring -- means providing for two-wheeled navigation. Many Cascadian cities, including Portland, and Vancouver, B.C. (both the city and the metro area), now have reasonably good cycling maps. On Mercer Island, I was carrying this one. Portland also has an online bicycle trip planner, and Thurston County, Washington has a nice online biking map.

better bike route sign But maps aren't much use without reference points on the ground, as I learned while wandering Mercer Island, looking for markers amid the athletic fields and cul-de-sacs.

Signs are small things, and far less expensive than separate bikeways with their own traffic signals and secure parking. So it's surprising how much of Cascadia is as unsigned as Mercer Island.

The opposite pole from Mercer Island is Portland, where I biked earlier this summer. The quietest streets themselves were branded with bicycle logos, right on the roadway, to indicate the best routes for two-wheelers. Along these boulevards, I came to navigation signs every few blocks. These signs -- Portland has installed more than 400 of them -- listed destinations, distances, directions, and even travel times. (Photo by Richard Drdul via Flickr.)

It was as if, well, bicycles were a means of transportation.

For story: Give me a sign
3 Comments | Post a Comment

Great post

Just last week I attempted to get to Bellevue via the 520 bridge with my bike on the front of a Metro bus--complete debacle. Our local politicians are not going to make Seattle carbon neutral with biodiesel buses. They mean well of course, but who doesn't? When you run the numbers, bikes hold tremendous potential for carbon reduction in a urban environment like Seattle.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 8:57 PM on 20 Sep 2007

Kent Leading The Way

As a member of the Kent (WA,USA) Bicycle Advisory Board I was happy to be present at our new Master Plan's public open house yesterday.

Kent will be spending at least $50 million in the next 20 years to improve bike lanes, bike signage and so on.

Our board members are experts in the latest signage for bikes and pedestrian crosswalks having looked at the best from other cities and I think we're on the right "path".

by jabailo at 9:17 AM on 21 Sep 2007

Madison, Wisconsin does this

In Madison, the bike paths have names (e.g. Southwest Path, Capital City Trail, etc.) and their intersections are marked with standard green-and-white signs -- the same size and format as the signs that mark ordinary streets. Unlike the cute carved-and-painted wooden signs I've seen elsewhere, these send the message that bike paths are part of the city's transporation network, and they do help bikers find their way around town.

by nuttree at 2:13 PM on 21 Sep 2007

ADVERTISING POLICY

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