By NATE KING
Salina Post
At Monday's Salina City Commission work session, commissioners discussed the possibility of allowing additional bike sharrows in city limits with James Teutsch , public works director for the City of Salina. The session provided commissioners with an in-depth look at biking trends in the city, education and outreach on current biking trails, and discussion on whether the community is in favor of allowing bike sharrows.
According to the National Association of City Transportation Officials, sharrows first appeared in the Denver, Colo., area in the 1990s. As the name implies, it is a combination of the words, "share" and "arrow."
According to a City of Salina bike sharing brochure, sharrows are not classified as a bike lane. Sharrows do not create road space that is reserved for bicycles.
"Sharrows have a purpose. They are primarily used for low use roads and low speed roads, 35 miles an hour or less, that's generally where you should expect to find them," Teutsch said. "If there are those that are on routes, that that is not the case, then we would probably want to try to identify an alternative to that particular route."
Commissioner Karl Ryan mentioned that there is already a lack of public outreach and education pertaining to bicyclists.
"Do you think it'd be useful to indicate that you don't ride your bicycle on the sidewalk," Ryan asked. "I think the biggest thing you've mentioned in here to me is going to be outreach. If we're riding our bikes up on the sidewalk back on the street, back and forth, the 300 or so people that are active bike riders that I know and I can be [bicycling] part of the year when the weather's nice. They all know what the bike map is, and they follow those. But we've got an awful lot of people, for example, I saw guy, I would say a short time ago, riding with a baby carrier on the back of his bike. He knows that he was riding the wrong way on the wrong side of the street. So it's a public education piece to me I think expanding the plan is great, but I think we need to get off the sidewalks with the bikes as soon or as efficiently as possible."
Teutsch agreed with Ryan and reiterated that additional signs would be required to clarify where bicyclists should ride their bikes.
"One of the recommendations that I would make to you is wherever there are sharrows there ought to be supplemented with signs that's in accordance with the American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials," Teutsch said. "But when it comes to bicycles in particular what sharrows should do is tell bicyclists which direction they should be traveling. I've certainly seen it coming to work on Ash Street, I see a lot of young kids riding bicycles with no lights at night and riding in the opposite direction. So there's certainly a lot of public education that needs to take place."
The biggest issue members of the community voiced is the cost associated with the project.
"I know that I've heard members of the public have concerns about the cost. If I'm going to follow the city manager's guidance, then I have to pay attention to this as well," Teutsch said. "Prices range somewhere between $100 to $400, with the average being about $230 for a sharrow. Sharrows represent a quarter to three quarters of 1 percent of my budget."
Several Salina citizens were present at the meeting to share their opinions on the proposed sharrows. Phil Black, a member of the Salina Bicycle Advocacy group spoke with caution about the use of sharrows.
"Even though a sharrow might be there on a road, I don't know that I want a six year old out there," Black said. "On the other hand, if you're a commuter like me, some of the sidewalks, as you pointed out, are not in very good condition. In fact, I'm moving into a house where we are having the sidewalk replaced, because if you hit one of those things, you'll break a wheel."
Black referenced Lindsborg and Manahattan as examples of cities that used proper signage to help mitigate bike traffic on sidewalks.
"In Manhattan and Lindsborg you'll see signs on the sidewalk painted to say please dismount, which seems to me to be more meaningful than just a little sign," Black said. "It says no bicycles on the street. It's a proactive thing, a positive and not a negative."
Black also said that he knows multiple veterans organizations that support bicycling as a way to get through challenging situations.
"I found a study that showed over 50 organizations supporting bicycles for veterans who are going through paths that are challenging, and if we can help a few seniors prevent them from having to get knee replacements and if we can help a few veterans find a better path. It seems to me it's worth the cost. "
Not everyone was in agreement on implementing bike sharrows into the Salina Biking Master Plan. Jerry Hinrikus, from Salina, said that he is in no way against bike trails and biking paths, but he is vehemently against bike sharrows.
"I am vehemently opposed to the sharrows - perception is reality. Two hundred and thirty dollars a pop for sharrows," said Hinrikus. " I went on Faith Drive today, Oxbow Park, one and a half miles on a low use road. A low use volume road. We got people struggling making ends meet right now. They see us spending this kind of money and they're saying it's out of control."
Hinrikus also said that he and his wife went to Minneapolis, Minn. after he got out of the Navy. He said they rode all over Minneapolis and St. Paul and they looked at a map to figure out their way around town.
"We didn't need all this signage. You're spending money frivolously. I'm not opposed to safety and everything else but perception is reality guys."
Avid bicyclist Dave Miller, of Salina, attended the meeting to offer his thoughts on the sharrows.
"I ride a bicycle all over this town - a lot. My wife and I have decided to stay in town for retirement, partly because this is such a wonderful place to ride bikes," Miller said. "I'm not going to disagree with the Bicycle Advocacy Group and the trails and all that stuff, but I agree with Jerry Hinrikus. They [the sharrows] don't mean anything. I drive Faith Drive all the time and it doesn't make any difference whether those sharrows are there or not. They don't serve the purpose that you guys think they serve and they're expensive. You're going to save money and put it in a much better place if you quit spending money on the sharrows and put more money in whatever we need for bicyclists."
There are sharrows already inside city limits. They can be found on Redhawk Lane, and along Roach Street.
Mayor Trent Davis said that the the conversation about bike sharrows would be continued.
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Jerry Hinrikus is employed by Eagle Radio, which owns Salina Post.