City Council also approves new ‘bike boxes’ for North Mountain Avenue and East Main Street intersection

By Isobel Whitcomb, Ashland Climate Collaborative

Ashland’s bicycling infrastructure recently got an upgrade — four bright green ‘bike boxes’ were recently installed at the intersection of Ashland Street and Walker Avenue. These highly-visible paint markings position bicycles ahead of traffic during red lights, enhancing their visibility and making intersections safer for pedestrians and cyclists alike. 

Ashland City Council approved the Ashland Street bike boxes at a meeting in July of last year, where bicyclists showed up to voice their support for the installment. “It’s a great feature, one that the driving public will need to learn how to use just like cyclists will,” said Gary Shaff, a member of Ashland Climate Collaborative’s Streets for Everyone action team, which initially proposed and advocated for installation of the bike boxes. 

During red lights, bicyclists arriving at the intersection via the bike lane move into the bike box. When the light turns green, those continuing straight merge back into the bike lane after crossing the intersection. Meanwhile, cars are required to come to a stop before the bike box. Right turns are prohibited at red lights, as indicated by a newly installed sign. 

Bike boxes enhance rider safety in a few ways: by moving in front of traffic, cyclists make themselves visible to drivers and can safely move into the intersection to make a left turn. Most importantly, the bike boxes help prevent “right-hook crashes,” in which a driver collides into a bicycle while making a right turn. According to the League of American Bicyclists, right-hook collisions are among the most common types of bike crashes, responsible for 6% of bicycle fatalities. Bike boxes also protect pedestrians — because cars are required to come to a stop before the bike box, cars are less likely to encroach into the crosswalk. 

Multiple studies have found that bike boxes help bicyclists feel more safe and reduce collisions at intersections. In 2008, Portland, Oregon installed 12 bike boxes throughout the central core of the city (since then, many more have been installed throughout other neighborhoods). Researchers at Portland State University analyzed 918 hours of video footage captured at these intersections, noting collisions and near misses between bicycles and motor vehicles. Not only did they count fewer of these incidents, with right-turning cars yielding to bicycles more often; but they counted a 94% overall increase in cyclists. 

That’s one of the primary benefits of a safer bicycle infrastructure, including bike boxes, Shaff said: when roads are safer, bicycling becomes accessible to a greater share of the population. The benefits of that are numerous: reduced carbon emissions, less traffic congestion, and greater mobility for people who don’t have the option to drive due to age, ability, or income.

“Much of what (the new intersection design) is about is giving people choice. The implications of giving that choice are profound,” Shaff said.

So far, driver compliance at the intersection has been low, noted Transportation Action Committee Chair Linda Adams. “They’re not stopping behind the line,” Adams said. However, she acknowledged that there’s a learning curve to navigating this new feature, and the city is discussing adding signage that indicates where drivers need to stop. A new page on the City of Ashland’s website offers drivers and bicyclists clear instructions on how to use bike boxes.

In addition to the Walker Avenue bike boxes, City Council approved another set at the intersection of North Mountain Avenue at East Main Street. This addition is still forthcoming. 

“We listened with open ears and approved the whole design with North Mountain and with Ashland Street,” Adams said.

Isobel Whitcomb is a development assistant at the Ashland Climate Collaborative (ashlandclimate.org).