FHWA releases 2009 MUTCD, acknowledges cyclists

Everybody got in on this story. Yesterday, the Federal Highway Administration released the 2009 Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which sets national standards for roadway and shared-use path signage and treatments. The big news is that it now includes sharrows, defines what they should look like and explains what they are for. Sharrows may be used to:

1. Assist bicyclists with lateral positioning in a shared lane with on-street parallel parking in order to reduce the chance of a bicyclist’s impacting the open door of a parked vehicle,
2. Assist bicyclists with lateral positioning in lanes that are too narrow for a motor vehicle and a bicycle to travel side by side within the same traffic lane,
3. Alert road users of the lateral location bicyclists are likely to occupy within the traveled way
4. Encourage safe passing of bicyclists by motorists, and
5. Reduce the incidence of wrong-way bicycling.

VaBike points to a great write-up about it at Cyclicious. In addition to Sharrows, it includes "Bicyclists May Use Full Lane" signs.

Rails to Trails covers this, as well as changes to trail signage, and links to BikePortland who also notes some changes. The signs for the U.S. Bicycle Route system were modified with a bigger image of a bike and a smaller number for the route.

The reason for the change, “is to present an immediate impression of a ‘bicycle numbered route’ rather than a ‘highway numbered route which can also be used by bicyclists’”

For those concerned about the Paint Branch Crossing there is this:

One source I spoke to this morning said the most important change to the MUTCD has to do with criteria used to determine when a traffic signal can be installed. The new MUTCD makes it easier for engineers to install traffic signals where bikeways and trails cross larger arterial streets based not just on volume of non-motorized traffic, but on how long of a delay they experience.

Looks like all good changes.

Comments

[Jon]

Awesome! I am forwarding this to Eric Olson; hopefully he can use this to pressure the county to do the right thing at that crossing.

[Mark]

Pedestrian signal warrants are covered on page 442.

[Richard Masoner]

Thanks for the linky love. Bike Portland also looks at other bike friendly changes to the MUTCD.

[Froggie]

I would've liked to see something on HAWK signals, which IMO would address the issue at Paint Branch better than a full traffic signal...