copyright 1996 Tracy-Williams Consulting
If the street forms part of a bikeway system, but it hasn't enough room for bicycle lanes--or perhaps the situation doesn't warrant them--then a bicycle route may be the option of choice.

What is a bicycle route?

In some ways, a bicycle route isn't a true bicycle facility. There are no stripes or other special provisions. In general, a bicycle route simply tells bicyclists how to get from point A to point B or identifies a particularly advantageous corridor.

Why identify a bicycle route? The most likely reason is to show people an option they might otherwise not know about. For instance, there may be a quiet and quick route between a residential neighborhood and downtown but few use it. Marking this as a bicycle route and identifying its termini can clue people in to its existence.

Similarly, a bicycle route identifying a particularly scenic corridor can help newcomers and tourists explore the best features of your community.

How do you create bicycle routes?

You can create a bicycle route with a map and some knowledge of the community's cycling environment. The basic task is to identify a network of potentially popular destinations and the best ways to get between them.

With the help of the bicycling public, you can quickly come up with some test routes to try as an experiment and then you can fill in the gaps as you go along. But check the candidate streets carefully. They shouldn't harbor any lethal hazards that would catch unsuspecting bicyclists by surprise!

A bicycle route is identified through signing. The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD, see references) describes the signs; all are green with white lettering: (1) a sign with a bicycle on it; (2) a subplate with destination information; and, if necessary, (3) directional aids. The diagram below shows typical bicycle route signs. The numbers shown to the right are from the MUTCD.



The basic sign--with bike symbol and destination--should be used fairly often on a route. Directional aids should be added at decision points or where several routes come together. Distance information should be added at regular intervals--perhaps every mile or 1/2 mile.

Because the signs are green, they are strictly informational. This means that putting up bike route signs to warn or regulate is wrong, although historically many jurisdictions did just that. Yellow signs should be used for warnings and white/black (or red) signs should be used for regulatory messages.

The manual also identifies an alternative sign approach, which involves the use of numbered routes. This approach would be primarily useful when used in conjunction with widely-distributed maps.

Another approach, taken by the City of Seattle, for example, is to identify individual routes with specially designed graphic images.

What are the benefits?

Creating bicycle routes is an inexpensive but visible way to improve the bicycling environment by taking advantage of your existing network. As mentioned above, routes can help people quickly find those special ways to get around town that most folks only discover over an extended period of time.

In addition, bicycle routes can be changed with relative ease. This is important when you're experimenting with route ideas and approaches. Unlike moving a misplaced bicycle bridge, for instance, it's pretty easy to toss a few signs in the back of a truck and install them elsewhere.

At the same time, it must be noted that a bike route's ease of installation can also mean that it makes little difference. Few bicyclists would see a sprinkling of signs around the community as a major committment to bicycling. When one of us was a local bicycle coordinator, people often called the office and asked where the bike routes were supposed to go and what they were supposed to do.

One way to look at a bike route system, however, is as a means of identifying potential sites for other types of improvements in order to complete a functional network. For instance, building a bike bridge at a particular location can help complete a route through one part of town; striping bike lanes can help make it work in another.

Reference:

Topics for further study:


Return to Specific Roadway Environments Return to Planning and Design
Return to Home Page