Sharrows too far to the right?

I’m not familiar with that stretch, but in general: yes, you’re supposed to ride over the sharrow, and yes, the DOTs often put them in the wrong place. They do sometimes get them right and seem to be getting better (e.g., the relatively new sharrows on Courthouse Road which are way out toward the middle).

I’m always disappointed when street markings switch from well-placed sharrows to a bike lane positioned precisely in the door zone of the parking lane. Happens all the time.

On Walter Reed between Arlington Mill and Route 7, I remember there used to be a thin bike lane (note: on this stretch there is no parking on either side) which still continues one block over to Four Mile Run Drive. One day, they took out the bike lane and put bike sharrows in the same spot the bike lane used to be. The problems are that afterwards it was really bumpy due to the paint removal and the sharrows were too far to the right.

When I ride that stretch (a few times per month), I ride closer to the middle of the lane than where the sharrows are located. That said, the lane is still wide enough that drivers will pass you in your lane, but if you see them coming you have room to make way (I tend to be polite when riding).

I have a family member deep in the bowels of a state department of transportation near Arlington, but not Virginia. We get drunk at Christmas, have knife fights, he complains about letters from jagoff cyclists and I explain how he’s wasted his life as an acolyte to an automotive oligarchy. But in the end he’s a by-the-book sort who can spit out any state reg or FHWA recommendation on command: sharrows are not meant to indicate a precise line for cyclists to follow. Sharrows simply remind travelers that bikes can use the lane, the whole lane or any part of the lane.

Maybe it’s different by state, but in my uncle’s backwater excuse of a state, when cyclists write letters that this sharrow should move over 4″ to the left and the next sharrow should move 9″ to the right so the cyclist’s line staigthens out the curve….well let’s just say those letters get pinned to bulletin boards for amusement.

If he’s wrong about sharrows, find me the reg so I can stab him with it at grandma’s house this December.

@Brendan von Buckingham 94555 wrote:

I have a family member deep in the bowels of a state department of transportation near Arlington, but not Virginia. We get drunk at Christmas, have knife fights, he complains about letters from jagoff cyclists and I explain how he’s wasted his life as an acolyte to an automotive oligarchy. But in the end he’s a by-the-book sort who can spit out any state reg or FHWA recommendation on command: sharrows are not meant to indicate a precise line for cyclists to follow. Sharrows simply remind travelers that bikes can use the lane, the whole lane or any part of the lane.

Maybe it’s different by state, but in my uncle’s backwater excuse of a state, when cyclists write letters that this sharrow should move over 4″ to the left and the next sharrow should move 9″ to the right so the cyclist’s line staigthens out the curve….well let’s just say those letters get pinned to bulletin boards for amusement.

If he’s wrong about sharrows, find me the reg so I can stab him with it at grandma’s how this December.

Introduce him to “let me google that for you”

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=federal+guidance+sharrows

The second entry points to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, chapter 9. Section 9C.07 Shared Lane Marking:

01 The Shared Lane Marking shown in Figure 9C-9 may be used to:
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,
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,
Alert road users of the lateral location bicyclists are likely to occupy within the traveled way,
Encourage safe passing of bicyclists by motorists, and
Reduce the incidence of wrong-way bicycling.

Nobody said it’s a “precise line”, and moving 4″ one way or another is doubtless a complete waste of money. The difference between being in the door zone and taking the lane, or getting squeezed into the ditch on a narrow road, on the other hand (a couple of feet) is pretty significant and exactly the kind of “lateral positioning” the MUTCD encourages.

@Brendan von Buckingham 94555 wrote:

We get drunk at Christmas, have knife fights,

@DismalScientist 94558 wrote:

If only my holiday meals were so exciting…

Your family may not try to stab you…but they want to, trust me.