(A) Several types of “bikeways” exist, as defined by federal and state bicycle planning and design guides and manuals. Bikeways generally are distinguished as preferential roadways accommodating bicycle travel, with accommodation taking the form of bicycle route designation, bike lane striping or shared use paths to physically separate cyclists from motorists.
(B) Joseph currently lacks a formalized bikeway system (e.g., bike lanes and shared use paths). Rather, bicyclists share streets with motorists. Most lower-order streets in Joseph can be classified as “shared roadways”. Typically the most common type of bikeway, shared roadways, accommodate vehicles and bicycles in the same travel lane. The most suitable roadways for shared vehicle/bicycle use are those with lower posted speeds (25 mph or less) or lower traffic volumes (3,000 average daily traffic or less). Most lower-order streets in the city have posted speeds of 15 to 25 mph while serving relatively low traffic volumes.
(C) Although bicyclists and motorists can sufficiently share travel lanes on most streets, higher vehicle volumes and speeds on other corridors indicate a potential need for enhanced bicyclist accommodations (e.g., separation from motorists). The city’s major roads provide varying shoulder widths to accommodate bicycle travel, including two-to three-foot wide shoulders on segments of Oregon 82 north of Russell Lane, one- to three-foot wide shoulders on E Eighth Street and Wallowa Lake Highway, and no shoulders on Airport Lane/Hurricane Creek Road.
(Ord. passed 6- -2009)