For years, the Town of Bristol has been looking into ways to connect the end of the East Bay Bike Path to the Mt. Hope Bridge and RWU. The initial plan, which included the construction of a paved, off-street pathway along Ferry Road, was scrapped for a variety of reasons, but bike accessibility throughout downtown has remained a concern for the Town’s Community Development department.

One idea that emerged was the concept of shared use streets, which became the foundation of the Bristol Bicycle Network Project, funded by a grant from the RIDEM Bikeways Program. The Town has been studying many ways to improve safety for bicyclists, pedestrians and vehicles, while fostering economic growth in downtown Bristol. Making downtown more bicycle friendly is the first step, beginning with simple, low-cost improvements to a network of streets where pedestrian and cycling use is already high. The project has been discussed, public hearings were held, and the goal of the start of summer was set for establishing the first routes.

Then, as the signage went up over the last couple of weeks, residents quickly soured on the Network.

There are — or were — three components to the signage, which was designed by a consultant hired with the DEM grant funds: there are painted markings on the streets, small blue wayfinding signs directed to cyclists, and large white signs, intended for vehicles, with a bike outline and the words “may use full lane”.

The backlash was swift, with comments coming in to this newspaper, on online forums, and overheard throughout town. They took one of two forms, either “So bikes can just ride down the middle of the street?” (yes) and “The town is awash in these stupid signs!” (also, yes).

On the first matter, Rhode Island law does, in fact, stipulate that bicycles have the same right as cars to be on roads (highways excepted) and motorists are to share the road. That information was taught in Driver’s Ed class, and if we’ve forgotten, that’s on us — the signage was, fairly, designed to serve as a reminder.

But the Community Development office has also heard residents’ concerns about the proliferation of signs, and they are responsive to them.
“The signs that people have really had issues with, the larger white signs, those are coming down,” said Ed Tanner, Town Planner. “Now that they are up, they do seem too much — the information is conveyed through the marking on the road, so we don’t need them.”

At press time, DPW employees were traveling around downtown, removing the signs. The Town plans to hang on to them, as they may have opportunities for reuse.

Tanner also noted that other signs can be moved, and the painting on the streets is water soluble and will fade and become less jarring over time.
“This is just the start [of the Bristol Bicycle Network] and we’ll learn as we go,” said Tanner. “It’s about bringing bikers off the East bay Bike Path to find our restaurants and shops; it’s really about awareness.”

“We’re trying to get this right.”