Bike Box

This is a photo of Laurel's first intersection bike box.  It was installed with the Cypress Street bike lanes.

Left-turn Bike Box on Eastbound Cypress at Mulberry

The left-turn bike box provides a safe area for cyclists to wait out approaching traffic from westbound Cypress, without fear of being rear-ended by motorists behind them.  The sketch below shows this a bit more clearly.

Sketch showing the two ways that a cyclist can turn left onto Mulberry from Cypress

From the sketch above, an eastbound cyclist traveling in the full lane of Cypress Street can make a quick and easy left turn onto Mulberry* (solid green line) assuming there is no westbound traffic on Cypress.  If there is westbound traffic, the cyclist must wait (like any vehicle) in the intersection until westbound traffic has cleared (dotted green line).  The box delineates a safe area where cyclists are protected from westbound traffic heading toward them, as well as from eastbound traffic coming up behind them.

*Bike lanes will be installed on Mulberry as part of that street's Capital Improvement Project, currently slated to begin next spring.