Best practice in accommodating bicyclists during construction

B’ Spokes: You may be familiar that our State Law requires “best practices” in accommodating cyclists in all phases of construction yet I have seen too many trails closed with no alternate route given, construction crews who close off bike lanes unnecessarily so to show off best practices that MDOT and local DOTs need to adopt (as required by state law) I found the following from San Francisco:

Section 9: Bicycle Routes

Appropriate measures shall be taken to ensure the safety of bicyclists on ALL streets on which there is construction. Contractors should pay special attention to streets that are on the Bicycle Route Network (Map 5 in appendix C). There are three kinds of bicycle routes on the network and the Contractor is required to maintain the construction area according to the following rules:

9.1 Bike Paths (Class I)

Construction on off-street bike paths shall provide an alternate route for bicyclists either by use of an alternate paved path or a temporary bike lane on the street. Any temporary bike lane on the street requires a STP.

9.2 Bike Lanes (Class II)

Contractor shall maintain all existing bike lanes. During construction, temporary bike lanes may be delineated by cones but at no time shall the clear width of a bike lane be less than 5 feet. Any bike lane that is effectively narrowed below 5 feet is considered a bike lane closure.

Bike lanes may be closed but only with an approved Special Traffic Permit or City Contract Specifications. An approved STP may require that additional bike signs such as “Bicyclists Allowed Use of Full Lane” or “Bicycle Route Detour” signs be posted as part of the conditions of the permit (see signs in Appendix D).

9.3 Bike Routes (Class III)

Certain streets on the bicycle route network may not have painted bicycle lanes but are nonetheless important because they provide connectivity to the rest of the network. In particular some bike routes allow bicycles to travel side-by-side with cars in the same lane. These streets are identified as having wide right-hand curb lanes. A curb lane is measured from the curb to the nearest lane line. Wide curb lanes are those that are 22 feet or more in width on streets with parking, or 14 feet or more on streets without parking. Contractor should maintain these widths wherever possible. If a wide curb lane will be affected during construction, the Contractor shall post a “Bicyclists Allowed Full Use of Lane” sign at the beginning of the block, and a “Bicycle Route Detour” sign with the legend “å BIKE LANE” at the point where the effective width of the curb lane drops below the aforementioned values (see signs in Appendix D).

9.4 Closure of Bike Routes

A Special Traffic Permit is required for any street closure or the closure of one direction of a street. The STP may require that a Bicycle Route Detour be provided and that additional bike signs such as “Bicyclists Allowed Use of Full Lane” or “Bicycle Route Detour” signs be posted as a permit condition (see signs in Appendix D).

Bicycle Signs
(Black and Reflective Orange)

Bike Route Logo Detour Bike Route Logo Detour LEFT Bike Route Logo Detour VERTICAL Bike Route Logo Detour RIGHT