"sharrows" coming to philo road

Later this week, Urbana will start painting "shared lane markings" or sharrows on Philo Road, as part of the Urbana Bicycle Master Plan.  Campus shop manager Joel wrote about the city's press release for our favorite local website.

Here's some good lines from the city's press release:

there are several purposes for the shared lane markings on Philo Road south of Colorado Avenue:

• Let motorists know they can expect bicyclists on the road;
• Help bicyclists position themselves in the travel lane (i.e. “take the lane”) since it is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel side-by-side in the lane;
• Positioning the bicyclist in the lane will encourage safe passing by motorists (if a bicyclist rides too close to the curb, they risk being squeezed by a motorist trying to pass without leaving their travel lane)