PBPAC Request to Correct the Placement of Cycling Sharrows on USM Roundabout

[Myles G. Smith]

Hello Jeremiah and Bruce,

Please find the attached letter, following up on the email listserv discussion yesterday. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

All best,

Myles Smith

Chair, Portland Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee

CC: Regina Phillips, Maya Lena, PBPAC Members

[Myles G. Smith]

Thank you for the quick response, Jeremiah!

Compliant and safe road striping seems to be a persistent issue with our contractors. Would the supervisor's job be to oversee that compliance and make sure it gets remedied? That would be great. Anecdotally, I've noted problems with striping at Baxter and Vannah Street, Forest Ave and Dartmouth Street, and Washington Ave and Cumberland Ave (all-ways stop with turning lanes, which seems unnecessarily dangerous).

Thank you for the work you're doing! I know there's a ton to stay on top of. Let us know how we can be helpful beyond these kinds of anecdotal observations.

Cheers,

Myles

Myles

On Tue, Sep 9, 2025 at 11:29 AM Jeremiah Bartlett <jbar...@portlandmaine.gov> wrote:

Hi Myles,

Thanks for this letter.  I did attempt to respond to the overall group but it looks like that did not work.

I am meeting with our Traffic Operations coordinator tomorrow on this and other topics. We believe that the contractor for the City likely did this and will look at next options.  The Operations group currently has no Supervisor but are working on hiring a replacement.

Thank you,

Jeremiah 

Jeremiah J. Bartlett, PE, PTOE

Transportation Systems Engineer

Department of Public Works

212 Canco Road, Suite B

Portland, Maine 04103

jbar...@portlandmaine.gov

(207) 874-8891

He/Him/His

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[Myles G. Smith]

Great, that's helpful.

We will keep sending things along with photos and locations. If we have capacity, we will try to be a bit more systematic.

Let us know if/when you get someone in the role!

Cheers,

Myles Smith

Chair, PBPAC

On Wed, Sep 10, 2025 at 7:43 AM Jeremiah Bartlett <jbar...@portlandmaine.gov> wrote:

Hi Myles,

Happy to get input - ideally if something is sent my way with a photo, I can get it on a work list for Traffic Operations to look at.  And yes - that is the sort of thing the Supervisor is tasked with doing.  That supervisor oversees all traffic signs, all pavement markings, all traffic signals, all RRFB's, all hybrid beacons, and all street lights for the entire City as well as support efforts for other departments, such as parking lot layouts, signage for other departments, etc.

[Lindsay Sirois]

Unfortunately it looks like cycling sharrows continue to be painted far to the right even since our letter was sent.

I only noticed this sharrow at 40 Washington Ave this evening and it appears to have been done recently, perhaps this week.

Other markings in the corridor are properly centered.  This was the only one I noted on my ride that was off, but there may be more.

The illegally parked vehicle demonstrates a different rampant issue along this corridor but in some ways helps to demonstrate how far the sharrow is to the right.

Somewhat related. As we see more and more of these pavement markings being used, I am concerned about the lack of education accompanying them. Education for both cyclists and operators of motor vehicles could be beneficial. From my experience, the paint alone has not been enough to inform both groups of road users how to behave in aread wherethe sharrows are in use. 

One specific example comes to mind, though not in Portland proper. This week in South Portland/Cape Elizabeth along Cottage Rd/Shore Rd, I struggled with where the safest place for me to ride was. The pavement is clearly and correctly marked so that I may take the full lane but the vehicle traffic was, let's say, reluctant to cede the lane to me. Even for myself, an experienced and confident cyclist, I felt pressured and intimidated to pull into the empty parking spots or striped areas of pavement when able, resulting in my having to now reenter the lane upon the next impediment. An outcome I knew was coming but felt better than feeling the heat of the revving engine following much too closely. 

Just an observation. I do appreciate the addition of sharrows in lieu of more permanent infrastructure, but there is definitely opportunity for improvement.

Lindsay

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[Zack Barowitz]

+1

I recall riding in Cape and having multiple motorists come right up behind me. In retrospect I think they were distracted and looking down at their phones and thus not realizing that there were cyclists on the road. 

A couple of weeks later I was hit from behind in Portland. Likely by a distracted driver. 

Moral of the story: Cyclists (often) move slower than cars and motorists don’t look for as they are cruising along while constantly looking down at their phones. 

Zack 

207-838-6120

917-696-5649
ZacharyBarowitz.com

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[Luke Bartol]

I noticed a similar sharrow issue on the end of Forest ave before it Ts into Congress, every other sharrow is far to the right, odd to have some be right and some not.

-Luke

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[Zack Barowitz]

Painting is often hit or miss. A few years ago the city re-striped the area of Congress Street inbound from 295 to St. John Street with a new bike lane. They did it perfectly in terms of lane widths, where the broken lines are for cars to cross, etc. But in subsequent years the contractors as often as not don't follow the old lines screws things up (for example, they'll do an overly wide shoulder/fog line that motorists use as a 3rd lane). 

Quality control is difficult.

Zack

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