EBC Position on Protected Bike Lanes
& Other On-Road Bike Facilities

EBC continues to advocate for more cycling infrastructure in South Florida - focusing on keeping cycling safe.   Early in January the 2018 EBC board officially adopted a position on Protected Bike Lanes which will be used in these efforts. 

Cyclists need more than paint or minimal barriers to be safe from road traffic.  Conversely motorists feel safer when cyclists are in clearly delineated areas.

What do you think about PBLs?  Feedback is welcome. Click and scroll to the bottom of page to participate in our forum.

EBC POSITION STATEMENT
Protected Bike Lanes & other On-Road Bike Facilities
Board Approved– January 2019

The Everglades Bicycle Club (EBC) supports Protected Bike Lanes (PBL) as the only safe on-road cycling facility for state, county and municipal arterial roadways where traffic volume and speed are high and connectivity is of maximum importance for commuter and recreational cyclists.

EBC considers a bike lane to be “protected” only if it is impenetrable by a motor vehicle. Forms of protection may include a concrete barrier, steel bollards embedded in the street surfacing and underlayment, guardrails, vehicular parking between the travel lane and the bike lane, and any other device or facility affording maximum resistance and stopping-power preventing a motor vehicle from entering the bike lane.

Due to an increase in distracted driving, anything less than a Protected Bike Lane on arterial or heavily trafficked roadways creates a safety issue for cyclists and discourages usage.

Visual separators such as plastic candlesticks or buffers such as wide, diagonally striped lines between a travel lane and bike lane, or a distinctively-painted bike lane may be acceptable on-road bike facilities only if the roadway is a low-volume, low-speed connector to a protected bike lane network. To further define the bike lane, an audible device like rumble-stripes between the travel lane and bike lane is a requirement.

A typical bike lane is a facility of last resort on a roadway and should only be considered for very low volume, low-speed roads in residential areas.

A maintenance plan to clear all on-road bike facilities on a regularly scheduled basis is required to ensure debris and/or pavement erosion does not create a safety hazard.

Sharrows are not supported by the Everglades Bicycle Club since many cyclists and drivers do not know what they mean and are likely to cause confusion rather than act as an informative traffic device.