Missouri Department of Transportation
The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has become increasingly responsive to the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians lately. In January, the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation announced a new working relationship with MoDOT to identify the highest priority bicycle, pedestrian, and ADA projects across the state. From there MoDOT will get to work planning and building the projects that will make active transportation better for everyone. These projects may be something as easy as painting bike lanes on a busy roadway to redesigning an intersection to make it more pedestrian friendly.
On a smaller, but no less important scale, MoDOT has also shown that they listen and respond to the needs of individuals. Alvin Sweezer is a Boone County resident who lives north of Columbia on route VV and rides his bicycle the nearly 30 mile round-trip commute into Columbia for work each day. He has had his share of close calls with motorists and thought a few signs along the road might help. “I’ve been doing that ride for some years now and there are bicyclists other than just me riding on that road,” he explained. Sweezer contacted MoDOT to ask for Share The Road signs and was put in touch with Garrett Depeu, a traffic studies specialist with MoDOT District 5. “Alvin contacted us and said he was feeling pressure from drivers and wanted us to put Share The Road signs out there,” said Depue. “So we started the evaluation process to see if this situation was right for signs.”
Depue said that signs are only put up if they are requested and if there is a real need. “We don’t want to dilute the message. We want motorists to see and remember the signs. The goal is to increase the safety for bicyclists and motorists,” he explained. According to Depue, if a motorist sees a Share The Road sign there is a good chance that he or she will encounter a bicyclist on that road. It may not be every day, but it is definitely likely.
MoDOT evaluates the need for a sign based on a number of criteria, including the number of bicyclists that use the road, who is making the request, and the characteristics of the road. “Roads that already have bike lanes or shoulders are not as likely to get a sign as a road that is curvy or hilly,” sais Depue.
Sweezer was pleased with his conversation with Depue and was hoping the new signs would be installed sometime this summer, but was pleasantly surprised when the signs were up within a month. The signs are large in size, bright yellow, and feature a black out line of a bicycle with the words “Share The Road” underneath. They are on metal poles and Sweezer said they are very visible to cars. He thinks the signs have made a difference. “Cars give me more room when passing nowdays,” he said.
There is not a formal sign request process,so Depue suggested that individuals contact MoDOT at www.modot.mo.gov or by calling 888-ASK-MODOT and leave a message with contact information. From there the process can take anywhere from one to six months depending on what other MoDOT work is being done in the state at that time.
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