The other day, I saw two bikers headed straight at each other in front of the Duckstore. Both were pinned in the skinny bike lane by cars on one side and a curb on the other, and neither seemed to know what to do. All I could do was watch as they tried to figure out how to escape their impending doom: embarrassment and a hefty road rash.
They missed a head-on collision by less than six inches.
I’ve noticed three perplexing additions to East 13th Avenue, starting at Alder Street: slanted parking spots for cars on the right side, green boxes at intersections and arrow-topped bike decals in the middle of the street. If you’re like me, you’re curious about what these new developments are and what they mean. Luckily for you, I’m just curious enough to investigate.
We’ll start with the painted decals in the street. “Sharrows,” or shared lane markers, signify that the lane is to be shared equally between cars and bikes. If you’ve taken a trip around Eugene, you may have noticed them before. They are on 33rd Avenue by Monroe and Clark avenues, and by the Market District on Pearl Street. The markers are intended to alert drivers that the lane they are merging into may include bikes. Similarly, as 13th Avenue enters campus and becomes populated by pedestrians rather than cars, the roadway should be reserved for bike traffic. I know the sidewalk can be congested in between classes, but do your best to stay out of the middle.
“Back parking spots,” the slanted parking spots you may have noticed, were implemented to provide a safer parking alternative for drivers. Although it may not seem that stopping in the middle of the road and reversing into a diagonal parking space is the safest idea, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. How much easier is it to pull out with the front of your car pointing toward the street rather than away from it? With bikes sharing the lane with cars, it’ll be most important for drivers to have a clear field of view when pulling into the street. You never know what those pesky cyclists are going to do next.
The other new development is the green blocks located around the bike lanes. Although they look the same, there are actually two different types of green markers: “bike blocks” and “warning blocks.”
The bike blocks are used to warn drivers that bikes can merge lanes in order to turn. For example, if a biker was riding down 11th Avenue on the right-hand side but needed to make a left turn, a bright green block would signify where the bike should make that move and signify to cars that bikes may merge there.
The warning block is, quite simply, to warn drivers that there is a bike lane crossing where they are about to drive. They have also been laid down wherever accidents are common.
The city will continue to integrate sharrows as more streets are being repaved. Briana Orr, a University alum and bike enthusiast, believes the sharrows are the right move.
“I think that the whole system makes it a little less ambiguous as to where everyone is supposed to be,” she explained. “They (the sharrows) help with everyone being a little bit more aware of everyone around them instead of everyone thinking about their own little space.”
For now, I think it’s too early to tell if the new method will work. People on 13th Avenue are clearly confused about the sharrows in these first few days back to school. Bikes are sliding around, dodging cars and pedestrians seemingly every other minute. Just know that if you’re riding toward campus, ride in the car lane. If you’re going away from campus, ride in the bike lane (closest to the curb on the right side). If you’re a car, yield to bikes turning right or going straight on Alder. And in any case, don’t be afraid to take it slower. Cyclists, I don’t care how cool your bike is — there’s no reason to go 30 miles an hour through campus.
“It’s not a space that you should go over ten miles an hour, if that,” said Orr. “I think we need to all slow down and really focus on the road ahead.”
The recent changes are a part of a movement to make Eugene the best biking city in the nation. With the cooperation of the riders, drivers and walkers alike, I believe it can be achieved. With the recent, tragic deaths of Lane County residents in biking accidents, we could all take a step back and understand that it’s okay to be a minute late to class — as long as you get there safely.