Cottonwood Gets Sharrows

Cottonwood, AZ – December 16th, 2011, 12:00 – Bike shop owner Aaron Ruda was the first cyclist to use the sharrows painted on 12th Street in Cottonwood on Friday. The Public Works crew that had just painted the new roadway markings and can be seen driving away.  Shared-use lane markings, or "sharrows", are used on roadways which are too narrow for bike lanes. They help remind motorists to share the road with bicycles, and indicate to cyclists the lawful direction of travel. Sharrows were adopted into the Federal Highway Administration's Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) December 16th, 2009 – two years ago. The new shared-use lane markings in Cottonwood are the first to be installed in the Verde Valley. More info on sharrows can be found here.

photo/text Randy Victory