Castro Valley has new “sharrow markings” along Redwood Road, thanks to Alameda County Public Works Agency and urging from BikeWalkCV. According to the MUTCD (Caltrans Design Guide), sharrows do the following:
New sharrow marking on Redwood Road in Castro Valley.
- Assist bicyclists with lateral positioning in a shared lane with on-street parallel parking in order to reduce the chance of a bicyclist’s impacting the open door of a parked vehicle
- Assist bicyclists with lateral positioning in lanes that are too narrow for a motor vehicle and a bicycle to travel side by side within the same traffic lane
- Alert road users of the lateral location bicyclists are likely to occupy within the traveled way
- Encourage safe passing of bicyclists by motorists
Sharrows increase the awareness of drivers to people riding bicycles on the road, which results in a safer ride for everyone. We hope to see more sharrows around Castro Valley soon, on the roads designated as bike routes in the Alameda County Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan [see Chapter 3].
The streets designated as Class III bike routes should have sharrow markings painted on them.
BikeWalkCV 