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Cyclist-friendly rumble strips ahead
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/p...0335/1006/NEWS
Six months after a noted research physician was struck by a car and killed while fixing a bicycle chain along Del. 1 in Sussex County, state transportation crews will begin installing rumble strips along the shoulder to improve cyclist safety. Department of Transportation Secretary Carolann Wicks said Friday the bicyclist-friendly rumble strips are a first for Delaware. The strips are thinner, shallower and closer to the white line marking the edge of the highway travel lane. "This gives more room for cyclists while not sacrificing safety," Wicks said. The $50,000 project will cover 11.5 miles of the 17-mile stretch from south of Dewey Beach to just north of Fenwick Island. Work will begin Monday and take five days, weather permitting. The plan was developed in cooperation with the Sussex Cyclists group and the Delaware Bicycle Council. Mike Tyler, advocacy chairman for Sussex Cyclists, said some cyclists have been calling for such strips for years, but others have been opposed because traditional strips don't leave much room for bikes. "We looked at this at first as not a good thing to do," he said. "But if it could save one life, it's a good compromise." In July, John G. Griffith, 44, of Timonium, Md., was killed while repairing his bicycle along the shoulder. Authorities say a driver fell asleep at the wheel and struck him. Griffith, director of the Johns Hopkins Fibroid Center, died at the scene. In the aftermath of Griffith's death, state Sen. George Bunting, D-Bethany Beach, and state Rep. Gerald Hocker, R-Ocean View, requested that DelDOT take a look at safety measures. "Rumble strips could have saved the doctor," Tyler said, adding that there is a heavy volume of cyclists on the road. "Many of us use Route 1 and ride this stretch." DelDOT statistics show that from January 2004 to December 2006, 60 of the 179 crashes along the 17-mile stretch -- including one fatality -- were run-off-the-road crashes. Nine of those involved cyclists. The rumble strips will not be installed along the entire 17-mile corridor, just in less developed sections. DelDOT says putting them in developed stretches would require too many breaks for driveways and intersections. Donna Hardy, a DelDOT safety program manager, said distracted or drowsy driving is as dangerous as drunken driving: "Driving after you've been up for 24 hours is the same as driving drunk." |
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Cyclist-friendly rumble strips ahead
On Sat, 26 Jan 2008 13:47:11 -0500 in rec.bicycles.soc, vey
wrote: Six months after a noted research physician was struck by a car and killed while fixing a bicycle chain along Del. 1 in Sussex County, state transportation crews will begin installing rumble strips along the shoulder to improve cyclist safety i have yet to see rumble strips that are safe for cyclists. it's obvious that cager engineers are once again trying to protect cyclists when they don't have a bleeping clue. |
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