Needed: Direction Arrows for Bike Lanes, Transportation Alternatives Magazine Article

Summer 2003, p.6

Cycling News
Needed: Direction Arrows for Bike Lanes

To reduce rampant, dangerous wrong-way bicycling in bike lanes, the DOT should mark lanes with directional arrows.

Bicycling against traffic is illegal and extremely dangerous. Motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists do not look for or expect wrong-way traffic, creating dangerous situations for all. Indeed, head-on collisions are more likely to result in serious injury or death. To reduce wrong way riding, the DOT should mark bike lanes with directional arrows as well as bicycle symbols.

The city badly needs arrows on streets like Central Park West, Second Avenue, Lafayette Street and Hudson Street in Manhattan; according to City Planning counts, 26% of cyclists ride the wrong way on these streets.

Other United States cities, including Chicago, Denver, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, use directional markings. Arrows are also recommended by both authoritative road design manuals: the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities (1999) and the Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (2001).

Write to DOT Commissioner Weinshall and tell her that New York City's bike lanes need arrows:

Commissioner Iris Weinshall
NYC DOT
40 Worth Street
New York, NY 10013

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