Bicyclists upset over rumble strips being installed on state’s highways

Wednesday, April 12, 2000 | 10:49 a.m.

Bicyclists are protesting Nevada Department of Transportation efforts to put new rumble strips on roads and highways leading into the Las Vegas Valley.

Some of the strips, which are made of rough asphalt, were installed in a pilot program last year. The new rumble strips are deeper and longer than a previous design, and bicyclists argue that they can throw unwary riders off their seats or force the bikes into car traffic.

"They're really bad. You can't ride anywhere near them," said Liam Kelly, an Australian training in Las Vegas for upcoming bike races. "It's dangerous."

But NDOT engineers say that the new rumble strips, on the shoulder outside the lane markings, will save the lives of sleepy motorists driving into Las Vegas.

"We are putting them in statewide," said Jerry Piretti, NDOT safety coordinator in Carson City. The rumble strips are going in on roads in rural areas, he said.

Roads with the new rumble strips have reduced crashes by 30 percent, he said. Most wrecks in rural areas happen because drivers go off the road, Piretti added.

The national standard for bike paths is 4 feet wide, usually on the road shoulder outside the lane markings. Members of the Las Vegas Valley Bicycle Club said some of the rumble strips already installed leave less than a foot for their bikes to use, including a long stretch south of town on Las Vegas Boulevard.

That stretch of road is especially important for bikers because Interstate 15, running parallel to the boulevard, is off-limits to bicycles.

Piretti said the statewide standard is to allow a minimum of 2 feet for bikes, although "there could be some experimental things out there."

Bicyclists say they understand the need for rumble strips, but the strips are discouraging an important alternative mode of transportation at a time when the valley is under a federal mandate to clean up the air.

"They started putting these in as a pilot project about a year ago," said Ken Stein, vice-president of the Las Vegas Valley Bicycle Club. "Then, next thing we heard, they started making them permanent and putting them in at will all over the Las Vegas Valley."

He said in some areas the "bike lane" is less than 6 inches wide.

"It's like riding a tightrope ... They make that section of roadway completely unridable and downright dangerous," he said.

Cal Oliver, a bike club member, said the rumble strip on Las Vegas Boulevard gives bikers a varying amount of room from virtually nothing to about 18 inches. Debris on the shoulder makes it even more dangerous, he said.

The road was once popular for long-distance bikers, Oliver said.

Leanne Miller, a bike club board member, said she has struggled with rumble strips on U.S. 95 north of the Kyle Canyon turnoff and on I-15 between Apex and Mesquite.

"I will not ride my bike across them," Miller said.

Bicyclists say they understand the need to keep motorists safe.

"If they're saving more lives than they're endangering, then I suppose they're doing a good thing," Stein said. But he said it should be possible to reach a compromise that protects both bikers and motorists.

Ken Sears, NDOT district traffic engineer, said it might be possible to reach a compromise with bicyclists. He said the department might consider putting up warning signs so bikers aren't caught by surprise by the rumble strips.

Sears, who said he is a bike rider, said he wouldn't want to ride across a rumble strip, but he "wouldn't say they are dangerous."

The debate over rumble strips is more than just a Las Vegas issue. The national League of American Bicyclists reports that across the country, state transportation departments are putting in the strips -- much to the consternation of bicyclists.

"They're putting in these things willy-nilly," said Elissa Margolin, the league's acting executive director.

She said biking organizations are working with the Federal Highway Administration and the California Department of Transportation to design a bicycle-friendly rumble strip that still wakes up drifting drivers.

Testing on the California design should be done in early May, Margolin said, suggesting that the Nevada Department of Transportation could hold off further rumble strip installation until later this year.

Even when there is a corridor several feet wide for bicyclists, a rider can hit a rumble strip, be thrown and injured if it's necessary to cross from the guard rail to the traffic lane, she said.

Locally, the Regional Transportation Commission is lending a hand trying to minimize the impact on bicyclists.

"What we are doing is putting together a list of roads we would not want rumble strips on," Maria Rodriguez, RTC planning technician, said.

That list will go to NDOT, she said.

Rodriguez said the issue will be discussed at the RTC's monthly bicycle committee meeting tonight at 5:30 in conference room 296 in the RTC building across from the County Government Building, 600 Grand Canyon Parkway.

Launce Rake covers growth issues for the Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4127 or by e-mail at lrake@lasvegassun.com