In order to continue making Moline a bicycle friendly community, pavement markings for shared bike lanes and designated bike lanes are being painted throughout the City.
Moline City Council has placed an emphasis on improving pedestrian facilities by adding ADA compliant sidewalk ramps throughout Moline and filling in the missing links to our existing sidewalk network. In the last 15 or 20 years, there has been a national movement to accommodate all forms of transportation, not just vehicles. Pedestrians, bicycles, wheel chairs, roller blades, etc. Unlike ADA compliant sidewalks, accommodating cyclists is difficult to do in built-out communities with limited public right-of-way like Moline. Space simply isn’t available to construct separate bike paths.
In the Spring of this year, City Council expressed interest in identifying and marking bikeways in Moline. City staff reached out to the local biking community for support and advice on where to best locate dedicated bicycle routes. The City Council subsequently chose to identify two east/west routes on 12th Avenue and Coal Town Road. They also identified three north/south routes on 60th Street, 41st Street, and 14th / 16th Street
Moline residents may have seen markings on the roadway with a bicycle and a double chevron. This symbol is a shared bicycle lane arrow, commonly referred to as a “sharrow”. Sharrows are common throughout communities across the U.S. and Moline is joining in on the movement. Sharrows are not a new concept; tens of thousands of miles of sharrows have been installed across the US. They are not new to Moline either. Sharrows were installed several years ago between Stoney Creek and the City’s Water Treatment Plant.
These sharrows inform bicyclists of the preferred bicycle route through town and reminds drivers that the road is to be shared between bicycles and drivers.
It is important to note that the sharrows don’t change anything for drivers and vehicles that currently use the street. Per state law, bicyclists have the same rights to driving lanes as motorists. The City is merely identifying routes bicyclists should utilize. If a driver comes up on a slower moving bicyclist, they should wait for a safe opportunity to pass legally as if it were a vehicle.
This effort is part of Moline’s long-term bikeways plan. Future efforts include a new connection of the Ben Butterworth Trail along the Mississippi River to the new bike trail path being constructed as part of the new I-74 Mississippi River Bridge. Moline is also in the planning stages for a bike path that will connect the Ben Butterworth Trail to the Kiwanis Trail along the Rock River through downtown and the 19th Street corridor.
Again, sharrows merely 1) identify preferred paths for cyclists to follow and share the road with vehicles, and 2) provide notification to drivers to be aware of cyclists.
The City of Moline encourages you to use the new, designated bike routes and thanks you for your cooperation.
Residents are encouraged to visit the City’s website for more information, or contact Matt Moore at 309-524-2354 or via email at mmoore@moline.il.us.
PDFs of the Moline bikeways map and cross sections are available for download here.