Build bike-friendly rumble strips

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Background:
Rumble strips are safety devices placed between roadways and road shoulders. They are raised or grooved patterns in a road’s shoulder designed to alert drivers with noise and vibrations that they are drifting off the roadway. Rumble strips are a proven safety device and now common on higher-speed roads. Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) allows for the use of rumble strips along shoulders when only three feet of shoulder width is available.

Rumble strips are virtually impossible to ride a bicycle on or over. If a cyclist is forced to ride over them, a cyclist could lose control of their bike and fall.

What’s wrong with the current law?
Shoulders are frequently used by bicyclists when no on-road bicycle accommodations are available. Shoulders provide a safe and efficient space for bicyclists. To ride safely, bicyclists need at least four feet of shoulder space without obstructions. A properly designed rumble strip can improve safety for bicyclists, as well as motorists, by helping to keep motor vehicles separated from bicyclists. Current IDOT policies, however, limit the usefulness of rumble strips.

The current IDOT policy is dangerous for bicyclists and motorists because it reduces the space for bicyclists to travel when rumble strips are installed.

What the Active Transportation Alliance Is Doing:
Active Transportation Alliance and League of Illinois Bicyclists ask that IDOT update its Bureau of Design and Environment Manual to require

1. A minimum of four feet of shoulder space before a rumble strip is installed on a roadway.
2. A minimum width for the rumble strips.
3. Periodic breaks in rumble strips to allow bicycle traffic to enter roadway when necessary.

These standards are consistent with national recommendations from the Federal Highway Administration and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

What can you do?

Call IDOT and request that it change its policy on rumble strips. Check with your local governments, too, to ensure they follow the guidelines above when installing rumble strips on their local roads.

For more information contact Dan Persky, Active Trans’ director of education & advocacy, at 312.427.3325 x229 or dan@activetrans.org.

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