Hi Bill,

 

I would like WVDOH to place "share the road" signs on the Mileground and Easton Hill Roads (Highway 119).  I provide below a brief rationale for my request, which I make as a Morgantown citizen and not as a member of the Morgantown Bike Board.   Could I make that request through you to the DOH, and if not, could you please send me the email of an individual at DOH who would be the best recipient for such request?  Thank you.  

 

Rationale:  Currently, “share the road” signs are on Highway 705.  However, bicycle commuters who travel 705 find that these signs "dead end" when 705 intersects 119.  The addition of these signs along 119 may not result in fewer bicyclist-automobile accidents, however, this reminder to motorists may reduce the hostility (including verbal) displayed by some motorists towards bicyclists.  While I realize that motorists are supposed to have learned in Drivers Training that they are required by law to share the road with bicyclists, my experience as a bicycle commuter traveling the above mentioned roads is that some motorists need a reminder.  When bicyclists are hollered at or passed too closely (and so on) by motorists, the bicyclist is frightened and less likely to continue commuting.  This discourages the use of alternative transportation, which, in turn, contributes to rather than lessens traffic congestion.  Another reason to extend the network of these signs is that a consolidated “green school” (Eastwood) is being constructed in the immediate vicinity.