Plymouth City Engineer, Dan Sellers, explained the new pavement markings at the intersection of South Michigan Street and Pennsylvania Avenue during Monday night’s Board of Public Works and Safety meeting.
The engineer said the new markings are clearly different that were discussed at the city meeting two weeks ago. Initially, northbound traffic and those wanting to make a right turn onto Pennsylvania Avenue were to stay in the left lane, and the bike lane was in the right lane of the road.
Sellers said the change is due to an incident report given to him by Police Chief John Weir that involved a bike running into a turning car. The chief asked the engineer to look at some bolder measures to make the intersection safer.
The new pavement markings make a right-turn lane on the right side of the 5-foot bike lane. Vehicles and bikes turning right onto Pennsylvania Avenue will use the turn lane. Drivers continuing north will be in the left lane, while bicyclists heading north will be in the middle lane between the vehicles.
Air Markings informed the city late last week that they had a window of time to make the changes. They ground off the previous markings and painted the new markings, creating a right-turn lane. Sellers said a Yield to Bike sign was ordered last week and should be delivered and installed soon.
Councilman Duane Culp questioned having the bikes in the middle lane, and Seller said, “This is pretty standard by the manual for Uniform Traffic Control.” He went on to say he’s seen this same setup in other towns and cities.
This pavement marking project was a bit more expensive than the turn arrows, but Sellers believes that it will be more understandable to traffic. Street Superintendent Jim Marquardt had the funds in this year’s budget to cover the additional cost.
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