Reminding Drivers in West Marin Highway 1 Improvements Completed

When you ride Highway 1 between Panoramic and Olema, you’ll notice several brand new signs indicating cyclists’ rights to the roadway.

Drivers will now be given frequent reminders to pass bicycles by a minimum of three feet (“Pass Bikes 3 Ft. Min.”), and informed that cyclists are allowed use of the full lane (“Bikes May Use Full Lane”).

“The new signs on Highway 1 are a good first step toward reminding drivers that cyclists have a right to the road and deserve to be treated with patience and respect,” said Jim Elias, MCBC’s Executive Director.

The signs were installed at MCBC’s request as part of a larger Caltrans project originally intended to address vehicular safety only.

“These signs are essentially ‘Share the Road 2.0,'” said Bjorn Griepenburg, MCBC’s Policy and Planning Director. “With so much uncertainty from the non-cycling public about why cyclists sometimes take the lane, or how to safely pass cyclists, these signs will help educate drivers on how to share the road.”

“Signage becomes even more important on a road like Highway 1, where continuous shoulders aren’t feasible,” Griepenburg added.

Through a series of field visits and meetings, MCBC helped establish criteria for signage locations. Caltrans and other agencies–including the County of Marin–can now look to this project as a template.

The project also includes 40 locations where Caltrans widened the shoulders–again, with criteria provided by MCBC–though the locations and length of the shoulders were constrained by environmental factors.

MCBC is also working with the County to apply similar shoulder widening and signage criteria on its roadways and expects to see several similar projects move forward in 2019 and beyond.

To read more about this project, see our previous article on Highway 1.