SCDOT has 2 new policies!
Bike Lanes: SCDOT updated their Engineering Directive 22 to lay out how bike lanes are built into roads during repaving opportunities. This Directive specifically enables more opportunities for 4′ shoulders on the Interim East Coast Greenway route (until off road sections are made) and the 6 South Carolina cross state bike routes, and bike facilities from Council of Government approved Bike Master Plans. The SC/GA Coordinator of the East Coast Greenway, Brent Buice, helped us advocate for this!
Crosswalks: SCDOT made a new Traffic Engineering Guideline (TG-38) that expands opportunities for improved crosswalks. SCDOT listened to PCC and other members of the SC Livable Communities Alliance, as we pushed for more mid-block crossings and better, safer crosswalk design (“ladder crosswalks”). Keith Benjamin, City of Charleston Transportation Director, helped us advocate for this!
This is good news. However, why doesn’t the DOT take care of our existing state roads. I live in northern Beaufort County and when I ride, I try to ride to the right of the rumble strips where available. However, the cndition of many of these areas are unpassable due to debris and creeping grasses that grow. I applaud the State’s efforts to cut these areas vertically, but if more effort were put into ensurung the horizontal area right of the rumble strips would provide a safer area for cyclists. I’ve written the DOT and their response is that cyclists have the same rights to use state roads as motor vehicles and that the area to the right of the rumble strips is not designated specifically for cyclists. There is a definite need to ensure that both motor vehicles and cyclists can both operate safely on SC roads. I may have the same rights to the road as a motor vehicle, but I don;t have the same life expectancy in a collision with a motor vehicle. Signs that state Share the Road have very little effect on the behaviors exhibited by operators of motor vehicle to those cycling. We need to do better.