Bicycles welcome on Cambridge’s Maryland Ave.
CAMBRIDGE – Bike sharrows have been installed on Maryland Avenue as part of the Cambridge Gateways project, an effort of the City of Cambridge and Eastern Shore Land Conservancy to improve the entry into the City and encourage travelers to discover the vibrant Cambridge downtown.
Cambridge residents involved in the Cambridge Gateways project noted a desire to see better bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure at the gateway. Eastern Shore Land Conservancy approached the Cambridge City Council to approve the temporary installation of bike sharrows pavement markers for 120 days to allow staff to measure the rider frequency on Maryland Avenue. The temporary bike sharrows also help educate all road users on bicycle safety.
The bike sharrows were installed on April 9 as part of the Cambridge Gateways design phase. Cambridge Department of Public Works staff members, Sarah Abel from the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, and Jeff M. Duthie, a traffic safety representative from 3M were all on hand to install the bike sharrow pavement markings. 3M provided the bike sharrows and installation training to meet Maryland State Highway guidelines for bicycle safety designations.
Bike sharrows are pavement markings that indicate cyclists are allowed in the road lane. Cyclists should ride on the right side of the lane, heading the same direction as cars.
The temporary bike sharrows should only be used heading from U.S. Route 50 in to downtown, to obey directional traffic. Drivers should pay attention for cyclists, as should cyclists for drivers. All should obey traffic signals and signs.
Maryland law requires drivers give cyclists three feet on roadways. For more information on sharing the road with cyclists, visit: http://www.choosesafetyforlife.com/pdfs/Bicycle_Booklet.pdf
The sharrows will be in place until August 8 to measure the number of bicycle infrastructure users at the peak season in Cambridge.
Please email any comments or pictures of bike sharrow users to Eastern Shore Land Conservancy at sabel@eslc.org or 410-901-9988, or to City staff at aroane@choosecambridge.com or 410-228-1955.
The City of Cambridge and Eastern Shore Land Conservancy will document the number of users and interest in bicycle improvements to assess permanent solutions for the Maryland Avenue gateway to the Cambridge City Council.