Moses Lake introduces 'sharrows' with bike event
Moses Lake city workers painted "sharrows" on roads throughout the downtown area last week. The city is planning a bicycle event this month to help introduce the community to the new signs.
MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake drivers, meet sharrows.
The city painted about 70 of the symbols in the right lane of traffic last week, notifying drivers and bicyclists that the road has space for both.
The sharrows, or "shared lane pavement markings," can be seen along Third Avenue, Fourth Avenue and Balsam Street, connecting existing bike lanes on East and West Broadway Avenue.
The roughly $5,800 project was first proposed last spring by the Moses Lake Trail Planning Team, which recommended sharrows as a way to link bike lanes where there isn't enough right of way, when parking or traffic lanes can't be eliminated or when the curb and gutter are already built and the cost is prohibitive to widen the street.
"Sharrows provide visual identification for drivers that indicate bicyclists may be present," according to information provided by the city. "They also reinforce the legitimacy of bicycle traffic on the street. Sharrows are a safe, economical way for both cyclists and motor vehicles to share the road."
The information goes on to state that Moses Lake is working to improve cycling conditions within the city, and sharrows can "encourage more people to consider cycling as a safe, effective method of travel."
To introduce the new symbols to community members, Moses Lake is hosting "Chevys and Schwinns Sharing the Road," an all ages bicycle event taking place May 19 at the Civic Center, 401 S Balsam St.
A kids' bike rodeo will be held from 10 a.m. to noon, accompanied by an art project at the Museum and Arts Center, give-a-ways and a raffle for free helmets and a bike.
A ribbon cutting ceremony, scheduled for 11 a.m., ushers in the new sharrows route and reintroduces residents to bike lanes installed last spring along West Broadway Avenue, according to Lori Molholt-Phillips, Moses Lake's recreation superintendent.
The ribbon cutting will be followed by a five or three mile bike ride or walk, depending on people's preference, Molholt-Phillips said.
"The ride will help people become more familiar with the routes and the symbols," she said.
The event is sponsored by the City of Moses Lake, the Moses Lake Trails Planning Team, Safe Kids Grant County and Kim Janke-State Farm.
More information on both sharrows and the May 19 bicycle event is available at www.cityofml.com.