Markings Remind Drivers, Cyclists To Share The Road
Sharrows – symbols painted on the road are being added to provide cyclists with cycling line-of-travel guidance and to remind motorists to share the road.
The sharrows are being added along:
- Johnson Street from Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard to King Street East.
- Brock Street from Montreal Street to Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard.
The addition of the sharrows, the latest enhancement to the City’s cycling network, will be completed in stages over the next couple of weeks. As the work moves along Brock Street, parking will be relocated from its north side to its south side between Division Street and University Avenue and between Alfred and Helen Streets to accommodate the sharrows. Once moved, the parking will remain on the south side of Brock Street (Council approved this relocation of the parking in June). As the centerline of Brock Street is repainted, there will be a brief period of no parking along the affected portion of the Brock Street. Crews for the City will be painting the sharrows in the evenings and during off-peak hours so motorists should not notice any delays.
“Adding sharrows and designating cycling lanes should help encourage more Kingstonians and visitors to choose cycling as a great way to get where you are going in Kingston,” says Dan Franco, City Engineer.
Once these sharrows are added crews will continue to work throughout the summer installing designated cycling at the following locations:
- Johnson Street from Queen Mary Road to Sir John A. Boulevard
- Queen Mary Road from Bath Road to Johnson Street
- Portsmouth from King St West to Old Quarry Road
- Front Road from Bayridge Drive to the railroad at Invista
- Centennial Drive from Princess Street to Cataraqui Woods Drive
- Cataraqui Woods Drive from Centennial Drive to Midland Avenue
Council also approved the removal of on-street parking to allow for cycling upgrades on Leroy Grant Drive from John Counter Boulevard to Elliott Avenue and on Elliott Avenue from Leroy Grant Drive to John Counter Boulevard.
For more information on the City’s cycling plans and roadsharing see the City of Kingston’s website.
This seems like a terrible idea. A fast car approaching a slow cyclist in same lane??? This wouldn't make me feel any safer to be a cyclist.
Also some education on driver behaviour in a sharrow lane would help. The new sharrow lane on Brock street is so narrow it surely can't mean a car and bike share the width. I presume cars must pass bikes in the left lane rather than just pulling over a bit because the cyclist is supposed to get the full lane width?
Okay, so I'm confused about the sharrows. I saw them today on Front Road, when I biked in to the university. My understanding is that they do not mean that motorists should use the sharrow lanes, but rather to remind motorists that cyclists are there and to help cyclists know where they can cycle. Is this right? Motorists should give cyclists the full lane width, and shouldn't encroach on the sharrow lanes (right?). It definitely looks like some education on sharrow lanes for both cyclists and motorists is in order.
I just noticed these arrows as well and they are a terrible idea because they run along the side of road where the sewer drains are and a bike would have to go around to avoid the bumps, which is dangerous. Not only that but they obviously didn't research this idea before grabbing some paint and saying ' there looks great – bike lanes complete'.
It is so dangerous not to have the proper amount of space for both a car and cyclist to share the road. The City needs to look to Europe for inspiration and make proper bike/pedestrian sidewalks. Better yet, have all members of City Council go for a bike ride on all the new bike lanes and see how they work!!!
I agree with David, they are not bike lanes and not intended to be. They are a reminder, at best, to keep an eye out. I have driven Brock and Johnson since they have been added and I think I did pay a bit of extra attention.
When these streets come up for reconstruction in the future, its pretty certain that most collector or arterial roads will have design allowance for a proper bike lane, its just that there is only a certain amount of reconstruction that can be done every year. Despite the condition of streets like Brock, Johnson & Queen for example, they didn't make the cut in the latest multi-year reconstruction plan. When they do, bike lanes will be considered and created.
The sharrows aren't lanes. They are simply reminders to drivers, like any other message painted on the road. I am not sure if they are useful or not. They are probably ignored by drivers (but I could be wrong, since I don't drive) and are likely to give a false sense of security to inexperienced cyclists.
What a giant waste of money! I thought those sharrows were there as an ominous reminder of the perils of riding a bike down Johnson or Brock St. Like a permanent shrine to victims of the pot hole infested streets any poor cyclist wasn't informed enough to avoid. Great work Kingston! While they were at it they should have added $ signs with -> into the storm drains. Sharrows=bad. Proper bike lanes on streets cyclists want to ride on=good.
Saw the sharrows for the first time down Johnson yesterday. Might as well have spent the money elsewhere. Adds no value.
So I just went for my first ride in Kingston in a few weeks and I have to say, as much as I appreciate the effort by the city to put in bike lanes, they are completely useless if the city doesn't maintain them. I ended up avoiding the bike lanes for 90% of my ride due to broken glass and large stones. A lot of city riders are riding on thin tires and it only takes one sharp stone to pop 'em. Looking at the defined line left by the sweeper, you can see that it had been by but simply swept the gravel etc. into the bike lane rather than all the way to the curb.