jeff and thomas carpenter.JPG
Jeff DeQuattro, right, and Thomas Carpenter work on a bike at Delta Bike Project's space in downtown Mobile on Friday, Jan. 30, 2015. Delta Bike Project and the Alabama Department of Transportation collaborated on new "3-foot minimum" signs that will be unveiled Wednesday night. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)
Mobile isn't known for its bike-friendliness, but local bicyclists have reason to hope that motorists in the city, and statewide, will learn to share the road now that Alabama has a "3-foot law."
The law, which went into effect in August of 2015, "is starting to get us caught up to the rest of the country," said Jeff DeQuattro, executive director of Delta Bike Project, which was started in Mobile three years ago today.
Delta Bike Project and the Alabama Department of Transportation will celebrate the design and installation of the first official "State Law: 3 Feet Minimum" signs at a "reveal rally" Wednesday night at Cafe del Rio, 1175 Battleship Parkway (U.S. 90, also known as "the Causeway"), at 6 p.m.
"ALDOT'S goal is to provide safe routes for the traveling public by working with all modes of transportation," said Jennifer Eubanks, assistant traffic engineer with ALDOT in Mobile. "Working with our local cycling community to increase road user awareness is key to achieving this goal, and the new 3-foot bike law signs are a step in the right direction."
The new state law requires that motorists maintain a 3-foot space between their vehicle and any bicycle it approaches and passes. "The vehicle should give sufficient clearance to cyclists," DeQuattro said. "'Give three feet' means about an arm's length - not really a lot of space."
Though Mobile has had its own 3-foot law in place for a few years, many state and county roads run through the city, DeQuattro pointed out. "Now that the state law is in place, we wanted to make sure it fit with standard sign practices."
Along the Causeway, the first six signs are being installed this week, three on the eastbound side and three on the westbound side. The Causeway is "pretty heavily cycled," said DeQuattro, for exercise, transportation and sightseeing. The signs, he said, "legitimize the fact that cyclists have a legal right to the road."
The Causeway is also a corridor for people traveling coast to coast along Adventure Cycling's Southern Tier route.
According to The League of American Bicyclists, Alabama ranks 50th in the nation in bicycle-friendliness and Mobile is at the bottom of the list in the state, noted DeQuattro. In fact, Auburn is the only community in Alabama currently named among the organization's annually updated list of bike-friendly communities.
But DeQuattro thinks Mobile is off to a good start by making efforts in two of the areas that are used to gauge bike-friendliness: enacting laws to protect cyclists, and adding cycling infrastructure.
Alabama is now one of 38 states that have the 3-foot law. More signs will be added on priority roads in and around Mobile in the future, said DeQuattro, who hopes they will be requested in other parts of the state, as well.
Cafe del Rio will provide drink specials for those attending the reveal rally from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
For more information about the event, visit www.facebook.com/events/1811278285769191.
Dr. Jason Valentine made this video, filmed in Mobile, that shows how to easily and safely pass a cyclist: