Why are Sharrows Not Enough for North Figueroa Street?

The idea of sharrows (bicycle stencils placed in a lane of traffic to better articulate
existing law that people on bike are permitted to occupy a traffic lane ha!e been
proposed as an alternati!e to bike lanes on North Figueroa Street" #ere are some reasons
why$ while well%intentioned$ sharrows fall short in impro!ing street conditions&
'" (nlike buffered bike lanes$ sharrows do not pro!ide physical separation between
people biking and people dri!ing$ which makes them less safe and less effecti!e in
remo!ing car%bicycle conflicts"
)" Sharrows do not make it easier for pedestrians to cross the street" When there are
buffered bike lanes$ it is safer and easier to enter a crosswalk and be !isible to dri!ers$
especially when crossing southbound traffic"
*" +ompared to buffered bike lanes$ sharrows are less likely to shift people from bicycling
on the sidewalk to riding on the street" This not only hurts safety conditions for people
biking$ but for people walking too"
," Sharrows do nothing to separate dri!ers entering and exiting parked !ehicles$ from
fast%mo!ing car traffic" This puts e!eryone at risk"
-" Sharrows are high maintenance" Since !ehicle traffic dri!es o!er sharrows$ the
markings wear out .uickly and must be re%applied fre.uently"
/" Sharrows are small and spaced intermittently$ which makes them easy to miss from
the dri!er0s seat"
1" 2 study conducted by the 3245T found sharrows are most appropriate on streets
narrower than North Figueroa" 6The report concludes that sharrows would be most
effecti!e in 3os 2ngeles on streets like Fountain 2!enue 7 ) lane streets with a dotted
line di!iding direction of traffic"8
9" When seeking parking on streets without bike lanes$ dri!ers may suddenly hesitate or
stop in a lane of traffic that carries fast mo!ing cars" This is unsafe since it can
unexpectedly disrupt traffic and cause rear%end collisions"
:" ;uffered bike lanes pro!ide an additional physical buffer between pedestrians on the
sidewalk and car%traffic7 sharrows do not"
'<" Sharrows do nothing to discourage speeding$ a persistent problem that plagues
Figueroa and compromises safety for all users"