Guilford’s Whitfield St. Gets Sharrows for Safety

July 21, 2017

IMG_9005The Town of Guilford painted shared-lane markings, or “sharrows,” on Whitfield Street between the town center and the harbor on Tuesday, July 18, in an effort to improve safety for bicyclists and motorists! Funding was provided by The Guilford Foundation with facilitation by Shoreline Greenway Trail.

The markings are part of a traffic-calming effort by the town, especially on Whitfield Street, a heavily traveled route shared by drivers, cyclists and pedestrians on their way to and from some of Guilford’s most popular destinations. The speed limit is 25 mph, but according to the town, drivers regularly exceed that.

A sharrow (a condensation of the words “share” and “arrow”) is a painted icon that marks a lane shared by motorists and cyclists. Painting sharrows on Whitfield Street was an important step in raising awareness of the need to share the road while creating a more welcoming environment for cyclists. It’s been consistently shown that sharrows reduce car-bicycle accidents by encouraging cyclists to ride with the flow of traffic, and by raising drivers’ and cyclists’ awareness, caution and courtesy.

Shoreline Greenway Trail greatly appreciates The Guilford Foundation’s and the Town of Guilford’s shared commitment to improving bicycle safety in Guilford!