bike lane buffered from parking
The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) has published an online guide to modern bicycle facilities, the Urban Bikeway Design Guide. This easy to use guide provides examples and specifications for a large number of progressive facilities of the sort that have long been used internationally and are becoming common in several large and medium sized north American cities.
Though Carson City has only some urban characteristics, there are nevertheless several great ideas here that could be used in Carson City to provide a safer and more welcoming climate for bicycling. For example, buffered bike lanes (buffered from motor vehicle traffic and/or parked cars) could make many people more comfortable riding on the street, as well as use up some of the excess pavement that exists on four lane streets with low traffic volumes (Saliman between Colorado and Sonoma, for example). Shared lane markings could replace “share the road” locations such as Hot Springs Rd, with the addition of “bikes may use full lane” signs rather than the “share the road” signs currently placed. Take a look at the guide, and I’m sure you’ll see a number of ideas that could be implemented here in Carson City.
The guide has photos, diagrams, measurements, clear language about what is MUTCD and AASHTO bike guide compliant, and links to projects where the treatments have already been successfully implemented.
Streetsblog has a post that introduces the guide.