1. The proposal would allow cyclists to have full use of the lane on any road designated as a bicycle route.  A bicycle route is a designated piece of a road way primarily consisting of the 200 miles of bike routes laid out in the city’s cycling master plan, not just a road containing a “Share the Road” sign.
2. In relation to the proposal above, the ordinance would specifically state that a vehicle would be required to fully change lanes to over take the cyclist on designated bicycle routes.  If there is no room, to change lanes, the vehicle would be required to yield to the bicycle as a piece of normal traffic and comply with “all traffic control devices and pavement markings which prohibit lane changes.”
3. Limits the conditions upon which more than two people can ride upon a bicycle.
4. Broadens the places where cyclists can park their bicycles on sidewalks.
5. Limit the use of “tall handlebars” (handlebars taller than 12 inches) except upon recumbent bicycles.

As you can see from the full agenda, there is a lot of ground being covered so I can’t really say when the ordiances will changes will be considered.  If it happens when I happen to have a free moment, I will be live tweeting the discussion at @okcbicyclist.

As previously reported and in brief, these ordiance changes consist of the following:

1. The proposal would allow cyclists to have full use of the lane on any road designated as a bicycle route.  A bicycle route is a designated piece of a road way primarily consisting of the 200 miles of bike routes laid out in the city’s cycling master plan, not just a road containing a “Share the Road” sign.
2. In relation to the proposal above, the ordinance would specifically state that a vehicle would be required to fully change lanes to over take the cyclist on designated bicycle routes.  If there is no room, to change lanes, the vehicle would be required to yield to the bicycle as a piece of normal traffic and comply with “all traffic control devices and pavement markings which prohibit lane changes.”
3. Limits the conditions upon which more than two people can ride upon a bicycle.
4. Broadens the places where cyclists can park their bicycles on sidewalks.
5. Limit the use of “tall handlebars” (handlebars taller than 12 inches) except upon recumbent bicycles.

You can read the full list of changes here.

1. The proposal would allow cyclists to have full use of the lane on any road designated as a bicycle route.  A bicycle route is a designated piece of a road way primarily consisting of the 200 miles of bike routes laid out in the city’s cycling master plan, not just a road containing a “Share the Road” sign.
2. In relation to the proposal above, the ordinance would specifically state that a vehicle would be required to fully change lanes to over take the cyclist on designated bicycle routes.  If there is no room, to change lanes, the vehicle would be required to yield to the bicycle as a piece of normal traffic and comply with “all traffic control devices and pavement markings which prohibit lane changes.”
3. Limits the conditions upon which more than two people can ride upon a bicycle.
4. Broadens the places where cyclists can park their bicycles on sidewalks.
5. Limit the use of “tall handlebars” (handlebars taller than 12 inches) except upon recumbent bicycles.

The full documentation for the proposed changes by Mr. Randall Entz of the Planning Department, can be found at the Meeting Agenda website: http://www.okc.gov/AgendaPub/meeting.aspx?cabinet=published_meetings&docid=30140.  If approved by the Traffic Commission, the proposal would then move to the full city counsel for consideration.  The meeting agenda does allow for public comments from citizens.  The meeting will be held at the City Council Chambers, 3rd Floor, 200 N. Walker.

Thanks to Pete on the OBC Voices mailing list for the heads up.

The city of Oklahoma City is laying out the first of what will be approximately 200 miles of new bike routes around town.

The designated routes are individual bike lanes or lanes shared by cars and bicycles, known as “sharrow” lanes — named as such because of the combination of “share” and “arrow.”

Designated by pavement markings and new signage along the routes, sharrow lanes are intended to remind motorists to share the road with cyclists, and convey that a specific street is a preferred bike route. They are marked with a bicycle symbol beneath two arrows.

via OKGazette.com > Oklahoma City expands its network of bicycling lanes, including ones to be shared by cars.

While not a rabid “vehicular cyclist” fanatic, I do share concerns about traditional on street bicycle lanes in that they, from the motorists point of view, box in the cyclist to a very narrow and potentially dangerous strip of road way.  I consider these “sharrow” lanes to be the best of both worlds.  They increase awareness of bicycles on popular routes while at the same times not boxing them in to places with limited maneuverability.  And while the city is still spending a large amount of effort in planning for the traditional bike lanes, it’s nice that these types of infrastructure changes will be available as well.

You can see a map of the full plan here: PhaseOneBikeRoutes.pdf.

The following email was sent along to the Oklahoma Bicycle Society mailing list:

In Mid October we will be starting a bridge rehabilitation project for the City of Oklahoma City, which involves the re-habilitation of the truss bridge on the north side of Lake Overholser.

We will be removing the concrete deck and replacing the floor beams and related structural steel items and placing a new concrete deck.

The road/bridge will be closed to all traffic once we start the concrete removals on the bridge deck.

Travis Lloyd
Cimarron Construction Company
7409 NW 85th Street
Oklahoma City, OK 73132
Office 405-728-1555
Fax 405-728-5026

While this certainly will be an inconvenience for us who make the Overholser loop a regular ride, but it will be worth it to improve the bridge surface and help preserve this Route 66 landmark.

Yellow “Share the Road” signs to urge motorists and bicyclists to coexist peacefully and safely will be popping up around town as the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee works to make roads safer for both.

Read the rest at: The Norman Transcript – City’s bicycle routes being updated

Photo By: Juan-Luis