Two bills in the legislature right now are shining a spotlight on Class III bikeways and how we should and should not deploy them. CalBike has heard from some bike riders who rely on Class III bikeways and don’t want to see them restricted. So we want to take a look at California’s bikeway classification system, what is a Class III bikeway, and how the measures we support would affect people’s ability to take the lane.

Class III in two bills

The Quicker and Better Bikeways Bill (AB 2290, Friedman) includes a provision prohibiting the Active Transportation Program from funding “a project that creates a Class III bikeway unless the project is on a street with a design speed limit of 20 miles per hour or less or the project will reduce the design speed limit to 20 miles per hour or less.” It doesn’t stop communities from building Class III facilities with other funding sources and, since this type of bikeway is often just paint and signs, the costs may be minimal.

Another bill addressing Class III bikeways is SB 1216 (Blakespear). That measure “would prohibit, on and after January 1, 2025, an agency responsible for the development or operation of bikeways or highways where bicycle travel is permitted from installing or restriping a Class III bikeway or a sharrow on a highway that has a posted speed limit greater than 30 miles per hour.” This bill is more comprehensive in its Class III prohibition but with the same goal: to stop slower bicycle traffic from mixing with fast-moving motor vehicles.

The conflicting speed restrictions in these bills are being negotiated now, and they will not ultimately conflict. CalBike supports both bills and the concept of limiting Class III bikeways to low-speed streets. 

So what is a Class III bikeway anyway?

California bikeway classifications explained

California has four categories of bikeways. Class I is an off-road or shared-use path. Class II is a bike lane delineated only by paint. Class III is a facility where bike riders and car drivers share space, which is often marked by sharrows showing the preferred bicyclist lane position, or bike boulevard markings or signs. 

Class IV is where it gets confusing. The first three classes are progressively less protective, but Class IV takes a couple of steps in the other direction: it’s an on-road facility where bicyclists are physically separated from motor vehicle traffic. The reason for the odd order is that protected bikeways weren’t legal in California until CalBike and other advocates passed a law in 2015.

Each class of bikeway has its uses and pros and cons. Class I paths are the most comfortable and enjoyable for the widest range of users. However, space constraints limit where they can be placed, and their separation from local amenities can make them more suitable for recreation or commuting than running errands.

Class II lanes are often cheap to install and use existing pavement. They require fewer infrastructure changes and take less space on the road than a physically separated bikeway. However, Class II lanes without a painted buffer can put bike riders a few inches of paint away from fast-moving traffic. They are often placed on the margins of roadways, leaving bike riders to navigate a narrow space that may include drainage grates, pavement seams, and debris.

Class II lanes painted next to a row of parked cars can be more dangerous than no bike lane if they direct people on bikes to ride in the door zone. These door zone lanes also create an expectation among car drivers that bikes will stay in the lane, creating conflict when a cautious rider moves away from the door zone.

Class IV bikeways are the gold standard for safe bike space on streets. A Class IV facility can use a number of things to create physical separation from car traffic, including: planter boxes, parked cars, parklets, hard curb, movable curb-like devices affixed to the pavement, or bollards. More communities around California are looking to Class IV as the preferred infrastructure for creating safe bikeways in crowded urban spaces.

Class III bikeways can take many forms. It might be a set of sharrows in the right traffic lane,  bike boulevard stencils or signage on a traffic-calmed street, or a wide shoulder on a rural road. Class III allows planners to create space for bike riders on streets that are too narrow to add delineated bike space. On bicycle boulevards, bike traffic takes priority, and bike riders are encouraged to take the lane. On rural stretches of roads like Highway 1, a wide shoulder may provide enough space for a long-distance bike traveler to ride safely; on low-volume rural routes, a shared lane could be considered sufficient if bicyclists aren’t likely to encounter two vehicles passing in opposite directions at once.

Where Class III bikeways cause problems is when they are used as the easy way out when finding the space for Class II or IV bikeways would mean removing parking, a median, or a lane of traffic. Placing sharrows on a street with heavy or fast-moving car traffic can put bike riders in harm’s way. The two bills in the legislature have the right idea, limiting Class III markings to slow streets where mixing between bikes and cars won’t put bike riders in danger.

Who can ride in the street

Bike riders who are confident riding in traffic can still do so, even if Class III bikeways go away on fast streets. California law requires people on bikes to ride as far to the right of the road as is practicable, but bikes may take the lane on narrow streets or to avoid obstacles. 

If there is a Class II bike lane, riders are required to use it if it’s safe. (Please note: It’s not safe to ride in the door zone, so stay around 3’ from parked cars, even if that puts you outside the bike lane. You have a legal right not to ride in this danger zone.) People on bikes are not required to stay in Class IV bikeways and can choose to ride in the traffic lane instead, keeping faster riders from being stuck behind slower bicycle traffic.

So confident riders will still be welcome to take the lane, even if AB 2290 and SB 1216 pass, but new riders won’t be lured into dangerous situations, and planners will have one less excuse for not installing all-ages bikeways in their communities.