The Manager's report back on a request for yield to Pedestrians signage in bike lines

Per Massachusetts General Law, cyclists are required to yield to pedestrians at crosswalks except for locations where the crosswalk is controlled by a signal that provides a separate pedestrian phase. Our department has heard concerns from pedestrians that cyclists do not always yield at unsignalized crosswalks, and further that pedestrian/bike conflicts may be unexpected by some users at locations with separated bike lanes. As we move forward with additional bicycle facilities, we are striving to minimize active conflicts between different users, and particularly between pedestrians and cyclists.

Based on these concerns, we are working to develop a standard pavement marking to be placed in separated bike lanes in advance of unsignalized crosswalks to remind cyclists to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk. The markings will be placed primarily in separated bike lanes due to the potential for unexpected conflicts and the lateral separation between the bicycle lanes and the vehicles lanes. We do not recommend installing post mounted signs, as they will add additional sign clutter to the roadside environment and are less conspicuous to cyclists as compared to a marking on the pavement.

The proposed marking will be similar to what was recently installed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) on the Memorial Drive bike path, as shown below in Figure 1. We are working with the company that manufactures these types of pre-formed thermoplastic overlays, to finalize a modified design that we believe will be effective for on-street applications. Figure 1