City officials are seeking input on the effectiveness of bicycle “sharrow” signs on Hermosa Avenue, as they consider adding the share-the-road markings to other major city streets.
The arrow-like markings were painted on the Hermosa Avenue pavement earlier this year to encourage bicyclists to use a full lane going each way, if they need the space for safety.
The Public Works Commission will hear community input 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20 at City Hall, Valley Drive at Pier Avenue, to determine the success of the sharrow program.
Commissioners want to know:
If you are a cyclist, do you feel safer with the sharrows on the road?
If you are a motorist, do you know what the sharrows mean?
Have the sharrows made a difference regarding safety, cooperation and egress?
Community members also can submit concerns, suggestions and observations to bikemasterplan@hermosabch.org or call the Public Works Department at 310-318-0214.
Hermosa Avenue, which runs through the downtown area as it reaches Pier Avenue, is four lanes across. Officials said if a cyclist takes the full lane nearest the curb, motorists should pass using the lane nearest the median.
The sharrows reinforce practices that are already backed by law, city officials said. The state vehicle code allows a cyclist to take a full traffic lane on a roadway if there is vehicle parking at the curb. If Hermosa Avenue had no parking, state law would direct cyclists to remain as close to the curb as safety allows.
“We put up the signs and sharrows to recommend that cyclists should take the middle of the lane when they have to do so for safety,” outgoing Public Works Director Rick Morgan said in February. He said cyclists can be injured if they are too close to parked cars when the drivers open their doors.
“The cyclists have always had the right to take the full lane if they feel unsafe, and this empowers them to do that,” Morgan said.
The sharrows run almost the full length of Hermosa Avenue, from Herondo north to about 25th Street, where cyclists are pointed to lanes that lead to a bike path in Manhattan Beach.
San Francisco and Portland, Ore. sport sharrows, and Hermosa is one of the first cities in Los Angeles County to use them. ER
