Photo courtesy of the National Association of City Transportation Officials
A bike box in Portland, Oregon
Bike boxes are coming to Memphis.
The big, green boxes will make a space for bicycle riders, putting them in front of cars and trucks at traffic lights. The boxes will be painted on Cleveland Street at intersections from Lamar in the south to Overton Park in the north, according to the Mid South Greenways Steering Committee.
A bike box increases the visibility of cyclists and reduces their time spent at traffic signals, according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO). The boxes will also help cyclists make left-hand turns at intersections and help them cross major intersections, like at Cleveland and Union.
The boxes, too, show a further sophistication of the Memphis bicycle infrastructure.
When approaching a red light at a bike box, cars and trucks will have to stop behind them at a white line. When the light turns green, bicycles continue first and cars and trucks follow them.
Nashville officials installed Music City’s first bike boxes at roughly this time last year.
Rendering of a bike box; photo courtesy of the National Association of City Transportation Officials
