ITE Journal – December 2019 - 46

30

25

15

10
5
0

15

20

25
Speed Limits (MPH)

30

35

Figure 3. ELR speed limits.

Motor Vehicle Volumes

Vehicle Volume

Vehicular volumes range from approximately 200 average daily
traffic (ADT) to more than 5,000 ADT. Some of the following
6000
ADT numbers are estimates provided by city staff or calculated by
5000
multiplying
peak hour volumes by 10. ELRs with multiple counts
4000
available
were included at the highest measured volume. Guidance
2
allows
3000 ELRs to be placed on streets with up to 6,000 ADT.
This graph shows the use of ELRs at vehicular volumes
2000
approaching the 6,000 ADT limit.

Yarmouth, ME
Minneapolis, MN
Mankato, MN
Cambridge, MA (removed)
Minneapolis, MN
Lorain, OH
Ottawa, ON
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL
Edina, MN
Hanover, NH
Minneapolis, MN
Sandpoint, ID
Alexandria, VA
Boulder, CO
Burlington, VT
Cambridge, MA
Lorain, OH
Bloomington, IN
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis, MN
Yarmouth, ME
Lorain, OH
Hailey, ID
Minneapolis, MN
Grand Rapids, MI
Scarborough, ME
Edina, MN (removed)
Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, MA (removed)
Hanover, NH
Yarmouth, ME
Ottawa, ON
Edina, MN
Scarborough, ME
Boulder, CO
Hailey, ID
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL
Mankato, MN
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis, MN
Lorain, OH
Lorain, OH
Alexandria, VA
Bloomington, IN
Burlington, VT
Edina, MN (removed)
Grand Rapids, MI
Yarmouth, ME
Minneapolis, MN
Lorain, OH
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis, MN
Sandpoint, ID
Minneapolis, MN

Number of ABLs

15

Association
4000 of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
10
3000 revises that recommendation. More information on this
Bike Guide
issue is5 2000
available in the ABL Design Guide available at https://www.
0 1000
advisorybikelanes.com/design-guidance.html.
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
Figure0 4 shows total ELR widths Year
by summing twice the edge
lane width and the center lane width. This shows how width was
allocated in each installation. Where lane widths varied, the
maximum values were used.
Location
Underlying these lane width data are two inaccurate perceptions
of ELRs. The first is the street width on which they are applicable
20
and the second is the "Five-Foot-Bike-Lane" practice.
The
of most ELRs lies at or below 30 feet (ft.) (9.1
35 width
15 total
2XEdge Lane Width
Lane
Widthm) upper limit results from the belief
meters [m]).
30-ft.
(9.1
30 The Center
that standard
bike lanes are always preferable to ELRs because they
10 25
are a largely
20 exclusive facility for bicycles. A road width of thirty
feet is5the15minimum needed for a common configuration of two 10
ft. (3.04 m)
10 travel lanes and two 5 ft. (1.5 m) bicycle lanes.
0
15 practice20
30
The accepted
of providing255 ft. (1.5 m) bicycle
lanes35results
5
Speed Limits (MPH)
in ELR designs
with
5
ft.
(1.5
m)-wide
edge
lanes
and
the
remainder
0
of the street width allocated to the center lane. Because the entire
road remains available to motorists, this approach is misguided. The
opposite approach is more suitable, i.e. provide sufficient room for
safe travel in the edge lanes first, with theLocation
remaining width used for
6000
5000

1000

3000
2000

Lane
Widths
10

The selection of lane widths for an ELR is an extensive process. The
5
choices for lane widths are significant and will not be explored in
0
detail
here.2011
Briefly,
Dutch
Danish
guidance
that some
2010
2012
2013and2014
2015
2016 suggest
2017
2018
2019
center lane widths can result in a Year
less safe ELR.3,4 This range of center
lane widths is referred to as the "ambiguous zone," because it produces
uncertainty in the motorist's mind whether the edge lane is needed
when passing an approaching vehicle. The Small Town and Rural
Multimodal Networks guide recommends center lane widths which fall
within
this ambiguous zone,2 but the current draft of the American
20
D ecem ber 2019

Location

Figure 4. ELR traffic volumes.
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0

Yarmouth, ME
Minneapolis, MN
Mankato, MN
Cambridge, MA (removed)
Minneapolis, MN
Lorain, OH
Ottawa, ON
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL
Edina, MN
Hanover, NH
Minneapolis, MN
Sandpoint, ID
Alexandria, VA
Boulder, CO
Burlington, VT
Cambridge, MA
Lorain, OH
Bloomington, IN
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis, MN
Yarmouth, ME
Lorain, OH
Hailey, ID
Minneapolis, MN
Grand Rapids, MI
Scarborough, ME
Edina, MN (removed)

15

0

Length (feet)

All existing North American ELRs are less than one-mile long.
The most frequent role of an ELR is as a short connector between
other pedestrian or bicycle facilities
within a city's network. This
Location
is a result of one of their major advantages-the ability to provide
30
facilities
where sidewalks or standard bicycle lanes are not feasible
25
due to lack of width. The short ELR listed for Yarmouth, ME
consists
of an installation over a bridge, which lacks sidewalks.
20

Bloomington, IN
Boulder, CO
Yarmouth, ME
Lorain, OH
Hanover, NH
Minneapolis, MN
Hailey, ID
Sandpoint, ID
Yarmouth, ME
Cambridge, MA (removed)
Cambridge, MA
Ottawa, ON
Scarborough, ME
Minneapolis, MN
Alexandria, VA
Lorain, OH
Mankato, MN
Edina, MN
Lorain, OH
Grand Rapids, MI
Minneapolis, MN
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis, MN
Edina, MN (removed)
Burlington, VT

Bloomington, IN
Boulder, CO
Yarmouth, ME
Lorain, OH
Hanover, NH
Minneapolis, MN
Hailey, ID
Sandpoint, ID
Yarmouth, ME
Cambridge, MA (removed)
Cambridge, MA
Ottawa, ON
Scarborough, ME
Minneapolis, MN
Alexandria, VA
Lorain, OH
Mankato, MN
Edina, MN
Lorain, OH
Grand Rapids, MI
Minneapolis, MN
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis, MN
Edina, MN (removed)
Burlington, VT

Number of ABL Installations
of ABLs

4000

1000

0
Lengths

10

Lane Widths (feet)

20

15

7000

15 5000

Most5 ELRs outside Minnesota are posted at 25 miles per hour (mph)
(40 kilometers
per hour [km/hr]). All of the 30 mph (48 km/hr) ELRs
0
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
are located in Minnesota which has statutory
speed limits of 30 mph on
Year
these types of streets. ELRs with multiple speed limits were included at
the highest speed limit allowed. The ELR in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
is posted at 40 km/hr (25 mph) and is included in the data as 25 mph.
Guidance allows ELRs to be used on streets with speeds up to 35 mph
(56 km/hr), but no ELRs above 30 mph or 40 km/hr are known.2

46

8000

20 6000

10 Limits
Speed

Number of ABLs

Number of ABL Installations
Length (feet)

25

20

Vehicle Volume

Number of ABL Installations

30

Location

Figure 5. ELR Lengths.

i t e jo u rn al
35
30

2XEdge Lane Width
Center Lane Width
https://www.advisorybikelanes.com/design-guidance.html https://www.advisorybikelanes.com/design-guidance.html
ITE Journal – December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ITE Journal – December 2019
