FABB Awards of Recognition given at Bike Summit

At the Fairfax Bike Summit FABB handed out two special Recognition Awards to VDOT traffic engineer Randy Dittberner and Fairfax County bike coordinator Charlie Strunk. From my remarks at the ceremony:

I am very pleased to give two special awards of recognition today to Randy Dittberner and Charlie Strunk for their work on behalf of bicyclists. Randy, who you will hear from later in the program, is a VDOT traffic engineer. He is primarily responsible for the first ever road diet projects in Fairfax County and possibly in the Commonwealth of Virginia, on Lawyers Road and Soapstone Drive in Reston. Those projects have greatly benefitted cyclists and have made those roads safer for everyone. Randy conducted numerous public meetings on the projects, patiently explaining the many benefits of road diets to all road users. Randy, thanks for your great work.

 Back when FABB was formed in 2005 Fairfax did not have a bike coordinator. At that time Charlie Strunk, who was head of capital projects in the county, was our de-facto coordinator. One of FABB's first goals was to obtain funding for a bike coordinator position. In 2006 we met with then-Chairman, now Congressman Gerry Connolly. He agreed to try to find funding for the coordinator position, for a county bike route map, one of our other major goals, and a pilot on-road bike route program. Later that year the Board approved funding for the comprehensive bicycle initiative and formation of the bike program. Without Charlie and the bike program we wouldn't have the bike map, bike racks on all Fairfax Connector buses, and most importantly, the recently completed Tysons and Fairfax County Bicycle Master Plans. Charlie, thanks for everything you've done to help bicyclists in Fairfax.

Thanks to Kerie Hitt of FABB for designing and ordering the plaques.

VDOT criteria for placement of Sharrows and Bicycles May Use Full Lane signs

In an earlier post we noted that Shared Lane Markings (Sharrows) and Bicycles May Use Full Lane (BMUFL) signs are appearing in Fairfax. We discussed one narrow, busy section of Idylwood Road where cyclist harassment is frequent. We pondered whether using sharrows and the BMUFL signs could be used on some sections of road. We posed our question to Randy Dittberner, VDOT Traffic Engineer. We received a very informative response and wanted to pass it on:

As we were developing our initial list of sites to consider for implementation, we focused on a few factors:

- BMUFL signs and sharrows provide similar guidance to drivers, with a few distinctions. For example, we believe that sharrows may be preferred adjacent to parked cars to better advise cyclists to stay out of the door zone.

- Both devices cost about the same to install, but they have different life expectancy. Signs will last for at least a decade, but sharrows will be constantly pummeled by traffic since they’re often directly in vehicles’ wheel paths. As such, we are concerned that sharrows may need to be refreshed frequently, which obligates us to ongoing maintenance. We are closely monitoring the sharrows on Westmoreland to see how they hold up under traffic.

- It is our initial hope that in most cases, we can achieve a significant benefit with either the sign or the marking, without installing both. This strategy will allow us to address (at least) twice as many sites for the same cost. Certainly there may be critical sites where both devices are needed and add value, and we will definitely consider doing so.

With this in mind, we elected to focus our initial deployment of sharrows on locations where there is a gap in or terminus of an existing marked bike lane. In these areas we have already made a commitment to maintaining pavement marking expressly aimed at cyclists, and the sharrow acts to extend the markings through the gap or beyond the terminus. We focused our initial deployment of BMUFL signs on locations without marked bike lanes.

VDOT guidance on use of sharrows

VDOT recently issued guidance on use of the Shared Lane Markings (sharrows) and Bicycles May Use Full Lane signs (BMUFL) in the Northern Virginia District. The formal title is BIKES MAY USE FULL LANE Signs and Shared Lane Markings, Northern Region Traffic Engineering Practice. It was written by Randy Dittberner, VDOT Traffic Engineer and dated April 10, 2012.

The guidance is meant to clarify how the devices should be used in our area. This is an important step in the implementation of these devices. We've heard that both devices will be installed on a few roads in Fairfax in the coming weeks. There will also be publicity to inform the public about why the devices are being used and what they mean.

From the guidance:

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

In order for these devices to be effective, they must not be overused, but rather limited to the locations where motor vehicle traffic, bicycle traffic, and roadway conditions combine to create the greatest need. As such, the following considerations apply when evaluating a roadway for the possible application of these devices:

• Neither device shall be used on roadway segments with bike lanes, since a bike lane eliminates the need for these devices.
• Neither device shall be used on roadway segments with paved shoulders 4 feet or more in width. Although cyclists are permitted to use the travel lane even where shoulders are present, these devices may inappropriately discourage some cyclists from using the shoulder.
• Both devices should be limited to roadway segments designated by the local jurisdiction’s bicycle plan as part of its bicycle network.
• Roadway segments with low traffic volume, less than 3,000 vehicles per day, should not need these devices, because they usually offer a sufficient cycling environment.
• Neither device should be used on roadway segments with traffic volume greater than 30,000 vehicles per day or speed limits greater than 35 mph. Cyclists are generally permitted to use high-volume, high-speed roadways, but these devices may encourage novice cyclists to travel on a roadway above their skill level.
• Both devices should be limited to roadway segments where travel lanes are delineated with longitudinal pavement markings or other methods. (Neither device should be used on undivided unmarked roadways.)

There is also specific guidance for the signs and sharrows:

BIKES MAY USE FULL LANE SIGN

BIKES MAY USE FULL LANE signs shall be used only where bicyclists are permitted by the Code of Virginia1 to use the full lane. The Code of Virginia permits bicyclists to use the full lane in a “substandard width lane,” which is defined as “a lane too narrow for a bicycle . . . and another vehicle to pass safely side by side within the lane.”

Where this condition is the reason for installing the sign, its use should be limited to roadway segments where the combined width of the right-most travel lane and any paved shoulder is 10.5’ or less, excluding the gutter pan, if any.

In order to avoid overuse of the signs that would reduce their impact and effectiveness, BIKES MAY USE FULL LANE signs should be limited to roadway segments used frequently by cyclists, or where cyclists report being intimidated by nearby motor vehicle traffic.

We are a little concerned that the signs only be used on roads 10.5' or less. Most of the roads in Fairfax are 11' or greater. This guidance seems to greatly reduce the number of locations where the signs could be used.

SHARED LANE MARKING

Following are examples of locations that may benefit from Shared Lane Markings:

• Shared Lane Markings can provide guidance where there is a gap in or a terminus of an otherwise continuous bike lane, where constraints such as roadway width preclude the addition or extension of a bike lane.
• Where on-street parking is permitted and frequently occupied, Shared Lane Markings can help cyclists choose an appropriate lane position, rather than riding too close to the doors of parked cars.
• Where a roadway segment is wide enough for a bike lane in only one direction, the bike lane can be installed in the uphill direction and Shared Lane Markings can be used in the downhill direction, where cyclists are more likely to travel near the speed of motorists and may need to ride farther from the curb to have enough reaction time.

However, Shared Lane Markings shall not be used in any of the following situations:

• As a substitute for a bike lane where conditions permit a bike lane to be marked
• To provide wayfinding guidance to cyclists
• To designate a roadway as a bicycle route
• On a shared-use path or other facility where motor vehicle traffic is prohibited
• In an exclusive turn lane, where they could communicate that cyclists are permitted to use the lane to travel straight through an intersection instead of using the appropriate through travel lane

The layout of Shared Lane Markings shall not vary from the figure depicted above.

When roadway segments with Shared Lane Markings are repaved, the segments should be evaluated to determine whether the pavement could be widened enough to mark a formal bike lane. Roadways with Shared Lane Markings should be a high priority for shoulder widening. If it is infeasible to widen the pavement, the segments should be evaluated to ensure that traffic and roadway geometric conditions continue to support the use of Shared Lane Markings.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

A BIKES MAY USE FULL LANE sign and a Shared Lane Marking should not normally be used on the same roadway segment, unless extreme conditions, such as a documented volume of heavy cyclist traffic and severe roadway geometry, are present to a degree that using both devices together would provide a significant additional benefit to the traveling public.

Bicycle signal detection on Soapstone Dr bike lanes

Randy and David check detector location and sensitivity.

The Soapstone Drive road diet project is nearly finished. Approximately two miles of bike lanes were created when four travel lanes were reduced to two regular travel lanes, bike lanes, and a center turn lane. The bike lanes are striped and a few bike symbols have been painted in the lanes, with several more to be added before the project is complete.

There are three traffic signals within or adjacent to the project, at Lawyers Rd, South Lakes Dr, and Sunrise Valley Dr. At most traffic signals in the county the presence of motor vehicles is detected automatically. As many cyclists know, they don't always detect bicycles. BikeLoudoun asked VDOT about this issue last year and wrote the response in their blog post Why Doesn't the Light Turn Green for Bicyclists?

According to VDOT Regional Operations Maintenance Manager, Mark D. Hagan, "most of our traffic signals in Northern Virginia use what are known as 'inductive loops,' which is a loop of wire located within the pavement with a small electrical charge that creates an electrical field. The electronic device within the control box cabinet looks for an inductance change within that electrical field and triggers a signal that a car, motorcycle or bike is present."

Detectors have been placed in the bike lanes on either side of the traffic signal at Soapstone Dr. and South Lakes Dr. On Saturday VDOT traffic engineer Randy Dittberner and a signal technician from VDOT met David Gibson of Federal Highway Administration to determine the location and sensitivity of the detectors.

The detectors are embedded in the pavement and there's no sign of them on the surface. Thy are located about 5 feet behind the bike lane stop bar. When the bicycle passes over the sensor it is detected and a call is issued for a signal change. However, if 10 seconds passes before the signal changes, the call terminates. In order to ensure the light changes, cyclists need to stop on the sensor. Since the sensor isn't visible, a marking is needed to notify cyclists where to stop.

The Bicycle Detector Pavement Marking is used for this purpose: "A symbol (see Figure 9C-7) may be placed on the pavement indicating the optimum position for a bicyclist to actuate the signal." In the photo above, the bike symbol will be located where the letters "BK" are painted.

To our knowledge, these are the first bike detector markings used in the county. This is progress. Look for them the next time you're riding along Soapstone Dr.