Traffic lights which are triggered by sensors in the pavement often don't recognize bicycles or even motorcycles, leaving riders stuck waiting for a car to trigger the signal. In recent years, many communities have been replacing the wire detectors with more sensitive ones, but finding which ones are usable for bicycles has been a matter of luck or word-of-mouth.
The city of Santa Rosa has used a $20,000 grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District'sTransportation Fund for Clean Air to alert bicyclists to bicycle-friendly signals with pavement signs. The white thermo-plastic stickers, showing a silhouette of a bicyclist, are placed on the pavement at the spot where a bicyclist can stop to trigger the signal.
The 450 stickers have been placed at about 100 intersections along major traffic corridors within the city, in areas suggested by the city's Bicycle Advisory Committee. In addition to helping bicyclists at light traffic times, the stickers are a reminder to motorists that bicyclists are part of the traffic flow, Santa Rosa officials say.
For more information:
City of Santa Rosa Transit & Parking, 707-543-3325.