(Photos © J. Maus)
In our discussion about sharrows (shared-lane markings) last week, I pointed out how PBOT was getting creative in using them as bike boulevard and wayfinding markings. On some bike boulevards with off-set intersections, PBOT is installing what I call “broken” sharrows — that is, a sharrow with the chevrons tilted to show the direction of the route.
The other day I came across yet another innovative sharrow marking. The “sharrow flower” (anyone got a better name?) above is installed in the middle of N. Concord and N. Bryant streets, where two bike boulevards intersect.
When PBOT was first envisioning its “next generation” of bike boulevards (which they’re building now), they wanted to have a large, easily recognizable bike boulevard marking. As I shared last week, a totally new marking would not be eligible for federal stimulus funding, so they ended up sticking with the federally adopted sharrow. This flower sharrow looks to be a way to stick within the federal guidelines, while being creative and giving the standard marking a bit more flair. I like it. What do you think?