This week, City of Iola crews installed the first sharrows in Allen County.

A “sharrow”, short for “shared lane arrow”, is a roadway marker that serves several purposes. For people driving cars, it serves as a reminder to expect bicycle traffic on the roadways, and it indicates the expected position of a bicyclist within a lane. Likewise, for people riding bikes, it’s a reminder to ride with the flow of traffic, and gives guidance for the safest place to position themselves on a street. Sharrows also serve as a visual indication of streets that are particularly friendly to bicycle traffic, and that will lead to useful destinations.

The presence or absence of sharrows do not change the rules of the road in any way — they’re purely an advisory roadway marking. People driving automobiles should still expect to encounter bicyclists on every roadway in the county, and people riding bikes must still follow the normal rules of the road, regardless of whether there are sharrows painted on the road.

If you’re driving a car and come up behind someone riding a bike, and wish to pass, simply wait until it’s safe, then change lanes to pass, being sure to give the person on the bike at least three feet of clearance, as required by Kansas law.

If you’re riding a bicycle and a car approaches from behind you, make it as easy for them to pass you as possible, while still not compromising your own safety. Do not ride too near parked cars (because car doors can suddenly open), or too near the edge of the road (where you’re more likely to encounter debris or uneven pavement). If you ride too far to the right, this may encourage a motorist to break the law and attempt an unsafe pass, trying to squeeze by within the same lane, which is a very dangerous maneuver.

The sharrows have been placed on about 1.5 miles of streets in Iola — on Washington Avenue, from Lincoln (near where the upcoming Mo-Pac trail will be built) to Vine; on West Street, from the Prairie Spirit Trail to Washington; and on Vine Street, from the Southwind Rail Trail to Washington. These streets have been selected for the initial installation because they provide a recommended route for Iola residents to access the trail, and for trail users (many of whom are visitors and unfamiliar with the community) to access the historic, cultural, and service amenities downtown.

Iola’s sharrows were originally conceived in the Vision Iola Built Environment Plan, which put forth a roadmap for improving community health by making changes to Iola’s physical infrastructure. The Vision Iola plan was funded jointly by the Kansas Health Foundation and the City of Iola and led by Thrive Allen County. A KHF recognition grant funded the actual sharrows that are being installed this week by the city of Iola.

“Sharrows are one more piece of the puzzle in making Iola safer and more welcoming to cyclists,” said David Toland, Thrive Allen County executive director.

“In less than five years we’ve seen Iola and Allen County become one of the best destinations for cyclists in the state, largely due to a progressive city government and strong support from the Kansas Health Foundation, Sunflower Foundation and the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City.”

“I think this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of enhancements to our physical infrastructure that will make Iola the most cyclist and pedestrian-friendly small town in Kansas.”

“Allen County’s 15-point improvement in the county health rankings has been driven by changes in behaviors. We think that sharrows will make it easier and safer for our residents to use active transportation, and that we will continue to see Allen Countians becoming healthier as a result of this more active lifestyle.”

This sharrow, on Washington Avenue heading south, is placed so that a person riding a bicycle is well away from a parked car. A car door opening in a bicyclist’s path is called a “dooring”, and is one of the more common types of bicycle collisions. It can result in serious injury, or even death, if a rider is thrown from the bike and into the path of nearby traffic.

This is an example of proper technique, with the bicyclist riding right over the top of the sharrow, aiming for the point of the arrow.

In this position, the bicyclist is safely away from edge hazards, and is visible to traffic approaching from the front or from the rear. Even if there are no sharrows painted on the street, this is still the safest place to ride.