Pinehurst Seattle

This is a bike dot. Bike dots are pavement markings for signed bicycle routes. Unlike sharrows, bicycle dots are not intended to provide guidance on bicycle positioning in the street. Instead, they are a tool to provide way-finding; they show where to turn on the bicycle route. Dots are used to reduce sign clutter, particularly on neighborhood streets.

The accompanying sign tells you where the route is going and how far it is to the destination. Signs are placed at intersections where two bicycle routes intersect or where you should turn to get to a destination that is just off the route.

There are bike dots in Maple Leaf, Northgate and View Ridge. Anyone know where they are?

Here are some on-line resources for finding bike routes, not just signed routes:

– Seattle Interactive Bicycle Map: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/bikemapOnline.htm. You can choose your cycling level (frequent, average, occasional, select a neighborhood or type in an address, zoom in, use a measuring line to draw a route and find its length, etc.

– Seattle Bicycling Guide Map: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/bikemaps.htm. You can download a guide or order a paper copy. The guide has a map and information about about facilities including green bike lanes, bike boxes, and bike dots.

– King County Bike Map: http://www.kingcounty.gov/transportation/kcdot/Roads/Bicycling.aspx

– WA State Bicycle Map: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/bike/statemap.htm

– WA State DOT Maps for Local Bicycle Paths: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/bike/localmaps.htm

SDOT installed Seattle’s first green bike box in 2010 at E Pike and 12th Ave.  The bike box is used at intersections to prevent bicycle/car collisions. It is a painted green rectangle on the road with a white bicycle symbol inside. In some locations it includes a green bicycle lane approaching the box.

The box creates space between cars and the crosswalk that allows bicyclists to position themselves ahead of cars at an intersection. One purpose of the box is to increase awareness and visibility of cyclists. Another is to encourage cyclists to make more predictable approaches to and through an intersection.

The most important thing to remember is that cars may not turn right on a red light at a bike box.

On the left is a photo of the bike box painted on the street. The photo on the right is a closeup of the instructional sign at the intersection.

 If you are a cyclist, here is how you use the bike box:

To turn left: Inside the bike box, move to the left and signal that you’re turning left.

Go through: Position yourself in the bike box in front of the through lane.

Turn right: Inside the bike box, move close to the right edge of the roadway and signal that you’re turning right.

If you are a motorist, here’s how to navigate the bike box:

When you stop at a yellow or red traffic signal,  stop behind the white stop line marked on the road right below where the bike box begins. Do not go into the bike box!  When the light turns green, motorists and cyclists move through the intersection as usual, with cyclists going first. Motorists turning right on green should signal and watch for cyclists to the right, especially in the green bike lane of the intersection. Cars may not turn right on a red light.