Crossbikes at Intersections

Dotted green pavement markings delineate bike lanes at intersections, helping everyone see where cyclists are supposed to go. [Source: Virginia Dept of Transportation]

You've probably experienced this if you've ever biked around Sunnyvale. You're riding along in a bike lane. Everything feels predictable. You're following the road, staying in your lane, and then you approach an intersection or a busy parking lot entrance. Suddenly, something changes. The bike lane markings stop. Your path becomes less obvious. These conflict points are exactly where we need drivers to pay the most attention, yet ironically the lack of bike lane markings make that harder.

The biggest problem isn't that cars and bikes have to share intersections. The biggest problem is that where their paths cross, cyclists should become more visible, not less.

Think About a Right Turn on Red

Imagine you're driving, and you want to make a right turn at the next intersection. The light is red. You stop before the crosswalk. You look to your left and right for pedestrians. Seeing none, you roll forward over the crosswalk and pause to look for cars. At that point, you're likely in the bikeway. If a cyclist happened to be crossing at that point, you would've crashed into her. This is where street design matters. Think about how a pedestrian crossing works. A marked crosswalk tells a driver: people may be crossing here. When you arrive at the intersection, you know to stop before the crosswalk and look for pedestrians. A bicycle crossing can create the same expectation. If the bike lane remains clearly visible through the intersection, it tells drivers: watch for cyclists here. It also tells cyclists where they are expected to go.

A study of New York City bike lanes points the same way, recommending markings that show the path of bicycle lanes across intersections to prevent crashes.

Seattle's street design guidance calls these markings crossbikes — bicycle lane extension markings through an intersection. The City says crossbikes increase awareness of bicyclists for motorists and guide people on bikes along a direct path through the intersection.

NACTO’s guidance puts it even more directly: bicycle facilities should continue through intersections and driveways, and crossbike markings can make the bicycle path more conspicuous to drivers. National design guidance recommends continuing bicycle facilities through intersections and driveways, rather than dropping the bike lane or its buffer before the conflict. Possible treatments include continuing the markings through the intersection, using dashed or green markings where cars cross the bicycle path, maintaining separation, slowing turning vehicles, and using signal timing to separate movements between vehicles and bikes when appropriate. 

That's why I keep coming back to one simple idea:

The bike lane should become more visible at conflict points, not disappear. We can make those conflicts much easier to see and understand.

One Intersection, Two Cities

Here's an interesting example right here in our own backyard. One intersection, two cities. On the Cupertino side of East Homestead Road at Tantau & Quail, the bike crossing remains visible through the intersection. In contrast, on the Sunnyvale side, the bike lane disappears in the intersection. This intersection shows something very clearly: There are different ways to communicate to drivers that bicycles continue through an intersection. And one of them is much harder to miss.

At the intersection of Homestead Rd at Quail & Tantau, Cupertino owns the south side while Sunnyvale owns the north side. Cupertino painted a crossbike to clearly indicate where bikes cross. In contrast, Sunnyvale dropped the bike lane marking in the intersection, leaving cyclists more vulnerable.

It's not just about safety. It's also about belonging.

There's another reason I think crossbikes matter. When the bike lane is clearly marked through the intersection, drivers can see that cyclists belong there. The space has a purpose. It's not just an empty strip of pavement that happens to be occupied by someone on a bicycle. 

But when the markings stop, something changes. A cyclist going straight through the intersection can suddenly look like they're in the way — riding in a space that appears to belong to cars. That's when you can get the honking, the close passes, and the impatient driver who doesn't understand why you're there. A visible bicycle path answers that question before anyone has to ask it: This is where cyclists ride.

Good street design doesn't just tell people what they should do. It makes the intended movement obvious.

We design for human behavior

One of the arguments I hear about street safety is that drivers simply need to pay more attention. And cyclists should be careful, too.

Of course.

But we're all human. We get distracted. We look in the wrong direction. We miss things. We make mistakes. That's precisely why good street design shouldn't depend entirely on perfect behavior. It should help us make the right decision. A bike lane that continues through the intersection says: Watch for cyclists. The paint markings become part of the communication. And that's really what this is about. 

Cyclists don't suddenly appear at intersections. They were there all along. The question is whether the street helps drivers anticipate them.

What Would a Better Intersection Look Like?

Better intersection design doesn't look the same everywhere. At a particularly complicated intersection, it might mean changing the geometry or signal timing — or restricting right turns on red. The right treatment depends on the location.

Sometimes, the solution can start with paint. Continuing a bike lane through an intersection, adding dashed green markings where cars cross the bicycle path, or making the bicycle crossing more visible can be a relatively simple intervention compared with rebuilding curbs, moving lanes, or changing the entire intersection. Adding paint markings can make a big difference while costing little to implement.  We don't have to wait for a major reconstruction project to start making intersections easier to understand.

If a few additional markings can tell a driver: “Cyclists continue through here. Look for them,” that's a pretty powerful message for a relatively small change.

Of course, paint isn't a substitute for protection everywhere. A busy, high-speed intersection may need much more than markings. But visibility is one of the first things we can improve. And potentially, it can be implemented as part of routine street maintenance or striping projects.

What You Can Do

The next time you're walking or biking around Sunnyvale, pay attention to the places where cars cross the bicycle path. Does the bike lane continue through the intersection? Is there a clear bicycle crossing? Does the street tell the driver to expect a cyclist? What happens at the entrance to a busy parking lot?

Pick one intersection or driveway that would benefit from a crossbike, take a photo, and email it to us along with the location (info@sunnyvalesafestreets.org). We will incorporate your input into our recommendations for the next revision of the Active Transportation Plan.

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About the Author

Daria Mukhachova has a passion about doing urbanism right. She believes that streets should be designed for people first. That means creating places where walking, biking and taking transit are safe, comfortable, and enjoyable, while still supporting occasions when driving is necessary.