LIFE IN THE FULL LANE
City Council to consider new signs with clearer message than advising motorists to ‘share the road’ with cyclists
Safety advocates say it’s not enough to ask bicyclists and drivers to “share the road.”
What does that mean, anyway? “Having done just an informal survey and talking to friends of mine who are bicycle riders and also drivers, if you ask them what ‘share the road’ means, they do not know,” Jennifer Wellington, a member of the city’s Bicycle Trails Advisory Committee, said at a meeting last month. “And these are intelligent individuals who ride both types of vehicles.”
In an effort to align with federal guidelines that emphasize minimal use of mere “advisory” signs such as “share the road,” those placards could soon be gone from Santa Fe city streets, replaced by a less ambiguous message that cycling advocates argue will make the rules of the road clearer to drivers and bicyclists alike.
The new message: Bicyclists “may use full lane.”
A plan to swap the roughly 50 “share the road” signs across the city with “may use full lane” signs, which include a depiction of a bicycle, is wending its way through city committees, with a tentative arrival before the full City Council scheduled in early January.
Under state law, cyclists are indeed granted the same right to the travel lane as drivers.
A cyclist does not have to use the full lane, and if there is a designated bicycle lane, the cyclists may use either. “What is practicable with regard to the positioning of a bicycle on a roadway is within the sole determination of the person riding the bicycle giving consideration to roadway conditions at the time,” according to the proposed city resolution, citing state statute.
Advocates and city staff say the new signs are miles more intelligible than the current message — not to mention they reference the actual law rather than a simple suggestion to share space.
“‘Share the road’ doesn’t have any teeth,” said City Councilor JoAnne Vigil Coppler, who chairs the bicycle advisory committee. “People need to be educated on this. They don’t understand bicycles have the same rights as a driver.”
“What we want to accomplish with this sign is to educate people that when there is a bicycle using the road, they have a right to be there and be passed with a five-foot clearance,” Regina Wheeler, the city’s public works director, told the bicycle advisory committee.
If councilors approve the measure, city crews would have a year to replace all the signs. They wouldn’t necessarily erect the new signs in the same places, Vigil Coppler said.
Also mentioned in the resolution: City crews would install a series of additional new signs informing drivers that they must provide the minimum of five feet of space when passing a cyclist, according to city ordinance.
Vigil Coppler, who introduced the measure to swap the signs, said she wasn’t sure how many of those signs would be installed. The number and location would likely be left to the discretion of the city Public Works Department, she said.
The agenda for the Bicycle Trails Advisory Committee meeting last month, where members expressed support for the resolution, said $17,000 would be budgeted for the new signs.
The resolution is scheduled to appear before a pair of City Council committees in December.