Ngchen

Is there any sort of current guide on how WOLs should be marked? Should they receive sharrows on the right side, and/or get periodic green "Bike Route" signs put up? As far as I can tell, there is a stretch of local road here that appears to have a nice WOL, but is completely unmarked. OTOH, there is another stretch on the other side of town that has the green "Bike Route" signs, but ironically also has marked BLs which IMO makes the signs superfluous.

sggoodri

What is the motivation for marking them?

Ngchen

The idea behind marking them would be to encourage more people to ride, and letting people know that such places are preferred places to ride due to the improved infrastructure relative to other areas.

sggoodri

Cary, NC distributes free maps of bike routes in town. The routes are signed for wayfinding, to assist cyclists to stay on the route and identify which route is which. Many of the bike routes are roads with wide outside lanes. Others are lower traffic roads. The bike route maps are reportedly very popular with people visiting bike shops and park facilities.

It's unclear whether bike route signs by themselves do anything to encourage cycling on a particular road in isolation. I think most cyclists make their own judgements about whether a particular road would suit them for cycling, but I think the maps help them plan longer trips on a connected network of pleasant roads, some of which may be unfamiliar to them.

maddyfish

What is a WOL?

Ngchen

A WOL is a Wide Outside Lane, aka one that is 14-say 16 ft wide rather than the standard 11-12. It's designed so that a car and bike can safely travel side by side within the same lane. It's considered an alternative to bike lanes, although whether BLs are better or WOLs is currently a subject of continued debate.

ChipSeal

I will not share a lane if it is only 14 feet wide.

Ngchen

Reviving this thread from almost a year ago, I just saw this picture
WOL..jpg
from the Chattanooga TPO on an option to mark wide outside lanes (WOLs). Akin to sharrows, but adapted to WOLs, I think such is a good idea that would cost very little additional money, but would encourage the use of WOLs. This might be something for advocates to ask for when places with WOLs get repaved and/or repainted.

Digital_Cowboy

Understandable, given that all the diagrams that I've seen don't take into consideration that we need to stay 2' to 3' from the curb/gutter pan. They always talk about the 3' that we need to operate in and the 3' passing buffer, but never consider the 2' to 3' buffer to our right so that we can avoid storm grates, debris, etc.

If one stops and thinks about it the minimum width should be around 21'. That way it allows for a 3' buffer to the right, 3' to operate in, and the 3' buffer to our left. With that 9' if road real estate eaten up that only leaves about 5' for cars to operate in. With a 21' width that allows 9' for a cyclist and 12' for motor vehicles.

Ngchen

Well, FWIW it's well-known that WOLs shouldn't be more than 16 ft in width, or even say exceed 15 ft for long distances since cars would tend to operate side-by-side that way. If there is that much space, then BLs (bike lanes) should be painted, at least according to AASHTO. One of the advantages of WOLs over BLs is that they tend to not accumulate debris since cars go over the entire lane all the time. Where a curb is present, BLs are supposed to have a minimum width of 5 ft. So doing the math, (assuming a bike is 3 ft wide), in a 5 ft BL the bike has 1.5 ft to each side. If avoidance of something were necessary, there are 2.5 ft to the right of available space since the bike can overhang the curb w/o problems (usually - of course if it's a tall wall such isn't true). For a WOL of 14 ft, the bike occupies the rightmost 3 ft, there is a 3 ft buffer, and busses/trucks (which are 8 ft wide) can pass on the left. Such a WOL offers 1.5 ft of manuever room to the right, which while not ideal, isn't too far from the 2.5 ft for a 5 ft BL. In places without a curb or guardrail, a BL can be 4 ft wide, which has 2 ft of maneuver room. A 15 ft WOL would achieve equivalent function.

Basically, I do question the need for a 3 ft space on one's right to dodge stuff.

WOLs typically are used to retrofit areas which lack space for full-fledged BLs. They, like anything else, have advantages and drawbacks.

degnaw

FWIW, I've found that even 12 foot lanes are plenty to share if conditions warrant it (i.e. heavy traffic, or a median that prohibits changing lanes). Drivers will ride the double yellow, which still leaves me a full half the lane to serve as buffers. I'm not sure why a cyclist would need a 9-foot space, when there are plenty of car driving lanes that are that width.