Sharrow

From ibikeu Wiki

Sharrows on a wet city street.

A sharrow, aka shared lane marking, is a road marking used to signify a lane or street which is shared by both cyclists and cars, or indicate to motorists the presence of cyclists on the street. Their typical use is in places where cyclists are present but there is not enough street space (or political will) to provide for segregated bicycle facilities. Their secondary purpose is to indicate good lateral positioning to cyclists, so as to avoid the door zone and other hazards.

History

The first sharrows originated in Denver, Colarado in the 90s. Since then bicycle advocates have often pushed cities to add sharrows as an alternative to more expensive measures such as bike lanes, particularly when such measures were not politically viable.

In January 2007 the sharrow was recommended by the U.S. National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for inclusion in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.