What’s a sharrow?

A “Sharrow” is a painted road marking of a bicycle and two chevron arrows and are also referred to as a “shared lane marking.” An example of what a sharrow looks like is pictured in the photo with this post.

A sharrow is typically painted on streets that have a restricted width and a speed limit of 35 mph or less. The sharrow symbol is designed to remind all road users that the street must be shared with all road users like bicyclists and that bicycles may take the entire traffic lane. The sharrrow is also designed to guide the bicyclists’ lane position. For example, the sharrow symbol may be positioned further to the center of the lane to move cyclists further away from vehicles parked on the side of the street and avoid vehicles from attempting to pass a cyclist as where there is less room to make a safe pass. Parked vehicles are a known hazard to cyclists from unexpected opening doors and parked vehicles pulling out from the shoulder into the traffic lane. The sharrow may also be used to guide cyclists positioning when there are jogs in the road or for going straight at intersections with dedicated turn lanes.

The painted sharrow symbol also works as an alert to remind motorists that bicycles may be present and to pay attention for cyclists. This is a particularly helpful reminder at intersections where turning vehicles and bicycles going straight may mix or where vehicles are merging onto a street.

By indicating the preferred path for cyclists and reminding drivers to be aware of potential bike traffic, sharrows help reduce conflicts between bicycles and motor vehicles. This increased awareness can lead to safer streets for cyclists and help motorist avoid a potentially serious and unexpected collision with a cyclist, which we should all be able to agree is good for everyone in our community.