Article from the American Bicyclist newsletter that needs a response from bike
riders to avoid the possibility of rumble strips being put on some of the roads
we ride. Please contact our politicians to help avoid this.
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Act Now to Save Riding Routes From Rumble Strips!
5ShareCyclists
and motorists share a desire for safer roadways. Most of us are
motorists as well as cyclists and we have probably all benefited from
the wake-up call provided by rumble strips on the Interstate or major
state highways. However, as cyclists we also know that there is no such
thing as a bicyclist-friendly rumble strip, and over the years a lot of
good roads for riding have been lost to rumble strips. [Click here to go
directly to send the alert.]
Almost a decade ago the cycling community worked long and hard with
the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and State Departments of
Transportation (DOT) to develop more tolerable rumble strip designs
(for example, with gaps in the rumbles so that cyclists can cross them
if needed) and to agree to policies that ensured popular cycling routes
and roads with shoulders less than four feet in width would not be
rumbled without good cause – i.e. a documented history of
run-off-the-road crashes.
Today we are faced with a renewed push by the FHWA and state DOTs to
rumble strip state highways as a matter of course and without regard to
their own policies on where it is appropriate. We are seeing rumble
strips being proposed and implemented in more and more urban settings,
rather than just rural highways. In an attempt to prevent “roadway
departures” by motor vehicles, rumble strips are seen as a very
effective countermeasure: they do wake people up. Unfortunately, not
every road is the nail to the rumble strips hammer. To be effective,
there has to be recovery room; crash history and there have to be no
unintended consequences. We need transportation agencies to take closer
look into their toolbox.
For example, has roadway safety been improved if cyclists are all
but forced to ride in the travel lane of a high-speed rural roadway
because the shoulder has been rendered useless by rumble strips? This
gets to the heart of the US Secretary of Transportation’s recent policy
statement that declares “Because of the benefits they provide,
transportation agencies should give the same priority to walking and
bicycling as is given to other transportation modes.” This is where the rubber
meets the road and we see if Federal and state agencies are going to heed
LaHood’s words that, “this is the end of favoring motorized transportation at
the expense of non-motorized.”
We have researched and issued a report
on best practices. We have tried to work with FHWA on this issue. In an
unprecedented partnership, the League of American Bicyclists, Adventure
Cycling Association, Alliance for Biking and Walking, and USA Cycling
have jointly asked them to re-issue their existing rumble strip
guidance to states. We’ve met with officials in FHWA’s Office of Safety
to ask for their help in applying their own guidance at the state
level. And yet we learned recently that 17 states are leading a
“Roadway Departure Prevention” program where the indiscriminate and
wholesale application of rumble strips is being encouraged. Other
states are sure to follow and the hard-won policy protecting cycling
routes has been thrown out of the window.
This is a real threat and it is time to act! We need your immediate
support and action to try to put a stop to it, today. We are not asking
to end the use of rumble strips – they are a legitimate and effective
safety treatment. We ARE asking for an end to the indiscriminate and
inappropriate application of rumble strips that ignores FHWA and
AASHTO’s own guidance on when and where they should be used. Send a message to
your State DOT TODAY and ensure you don’t wake up tomorrow and discover your
favorite ride has been ruined.
Photo by Dennis Coello
Another example:
Photo from Savannahnow.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Kevin Whalen
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 08:58:59 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: RE: [COWs] Atlantic Beach
Kinnie,
Cindy is down at the beach this week and she has her bike.
She got in a couple rides this weekend and I'm sure she'll want to do some
more.
She'll have to work out for someone to watch Rachael during the ride though.
--Kevin
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kinnie
Pruden
Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2010 8:50 AM
To:
[email protected]; Amy Quinn
Subject: [COWs]
Atlantic Beach
Hey, Is anyone riding at Atlantic Beach Thursday or
Friday? I'd love to ride, but I have to plan ahead as I will need a
sitter. kp
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