WVDOH Installs Share the Road Signs on South University Avenue

by Frank Gmeindl

The rail trail’s closed from Decker Creek up river to the water treatment plant until August so what’s a cyclist to do?
Cyclists have just as much right as motorists to use South University Avenue. If cyclists hug the right edge line, passing motor vehicles will surely buzz them. There’s plenty of room in the “passing lane” for motorists to pass though. If cyclists control the right lane by riding near the center, motorists will just pass them in the passing lane as they would any other slower moving vehicle.
To make South University Avenue safer for bicyclists from the Westover Bridge south, the WVDOH has installed Share the Road signs in four locations. Heading south, the first sign is just before Hurley Street to alert drivers of cyclists merging from the Wharf District.
If you ride south from Hurley Street on South University Av., you can exit into Waterfront place and follow the driveways and parking lots that lead to the winding trail between the rail trail and South University Av. That trail transitions into the Exxon station and you can ride through the parking lots past Aldi, MedExpress and Sargasso but you must get back on South University Av. from there when the rail trail construction is in full swing.
If you choose to just stay on South University Av. past Waterfront Place or come back up to the road from the popular rail trail parking lot just past Waterfront Jeep, a second sign heading south just past Waterfront Jeep alerts drivers to cyclists merging onto University Av. from there.
WVDOH also installed two signs coming into town. The first is just north of Greenbag Road. This sign is clearly visible to drivers stopped at the traffic light on South University Av. so they should have time to think about the possibility of cyclists ahead.
Then, when you get closer to town, across the road from Waterfront Jeep, there’s another Share the Road sign to alert motorists to cyclists merging from the Waterfront Jeep area and turning left onto South University Av.
Riding the rail trail is definitely more pleasant than riding South University Avenue. Hopefully, the new Share the Road signs will make riding the road less scary. Certainly, if there were hoards of cyclists in these photos, motorists might get used to seeing us there and start to treat us like equally valid road users.