Overlook Drive Bike Lane and Sharrows

In June 2016, the City of Little Rock added bicycle facilities to Overlook Drive.  We added a bike lane going uphill and a sharrow going downhill from Greathouse Bend Drive to Hearthside Drive (approx. 3,039 lin. ft.) and sharrows from Rebsamen Park Rd. to Greathouse Bend Dr. (approx. 362 lin. ft.) and Hearthside Drive to River Oaks Circle (approx. 2,590 lin. ft.) (Picture 1, blue = sharrows on both sides, red = bike lane uphill and sharrow downhill).  

Picture 1.  Downhill bike lane (red) and sharrows (blue) on Overlook Dr.  

Importance
Overlook Drive connects the Heights neighborhood to the Arkansas River Trail (ART).  These facilities will allow residents to access the ART for recreation or transportation without needing to use a vehicle to transport their bicycle to the trailhead.  Overlook Drive is also a hill used by runners and bicyclists to train to climb.  It is one of the three "triple bypasses", so named because they both spur from the ART and they are climbs that elevate heart rates (the other bypasses are River Mountain Rd. and Fort Roots Dr.).

Why only one bike lane?
When riding uphill a bicyclist will be going much slower than vehicular traffic, and separating the two modes will increase safety and comfort for people on bicycle and decrease delays for people in vehicles.  When riding downhill, a bicyclist will be riding at a similar speed as someone in a car.  Allowing the bicycle user full access to the shared lane will allow her to navigate obstacles (branches, potholes, debris, etc.) as she quickly comes upon them and not confine her to a narrow lane in which she may not have the room to avoid them.