KELLY FARRELL / Staff

What do Islanders do when they come across this sign? There are 42 similar signs along the South Collier Boulevard shared use pathway which according to the contractor who chose them was meant to indicate who should yield to whom but instead just left many pedestrians, rollerbladers and bicyclists confused. These signs are being replaced with clearer signs by Public Works.

KELLY FARRELL / Staff

City of Marco Island Project Manager Jim Miller presents new signs to the bike path committee which are meant to help illustrate the intended use for the eight-foot wide shared use paths completed along with the improvements to South Collier Boulevard. Rather than make a rule or law about who should yield and when, the new signs indicate all non-motorized uses for the path and that all should share it.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

Tell us about it

• What would you add to this story? Tell us what we missed.
• Do you have photos from this event? Documents we need to see? Share with us.
• Upload photos & videos
• More ways to get your stuff online and in the paper.

More Local News

• Business Spotlight: Rollsecure Shutters
• Fix investment: new car sales slump boosts repair shops' business
• Pet Talk: Cat food for thought

Share and Enjoy [?]

MARCO ISLAND — The City of Marco Island’s Pathway Committee is recommending new sign language to clarify the suggested use of the sidewalks along Collier Boulevard.

Improvements came with the expansion of the sidewalks along South Collier Boulevard as well as signs that were meant to indicate who could use these new, eight-foot wide shared-use pathways.

The signs confused many people.

The green and yellow signs showed a pedestrian, a bicyclist and a rollerblade with arrows pointing in different directions between each of the three symbols. There was no written language on the signs.

The official meaning of the sign was to indicate who should yield the right of away, the bicyclist, the rollerblader or the walker.

The unofficial meaning seemed to indicate that all who exercise on the new path along South Collier Boulevard should be recycled.

Given the confusion, new signs are being installed this week and text will be added for clarification.

"The arrows between the symbols (indicating who should yield) weren’t in the order we would want them anyway," said Jim Miller, the city’s project engineer, regarding the older signs.

Leslie Sanford, administrative assistant with the city and member of the bike path committee said island officials have been getting a lot of calls about the signs over the past six months.

"The signs have been confusing a lot of people. Hopefully, these (new signs) spell it out a lot better for people," Sanford said.

The new sign reads: "Shared use path, please be courteous," and displays three symbols including the bicyclist, pedestrian and now a baby stroller.

The intent appears clear that almost anyone can use the path and consideration for the multiple non-motorized users is suggested.

Miller said the idea of making a rule or law regarding which type of user has the right of way was "more trouble than it was worth" regardless of whether the sign was easy to understand.

"We wouldn’t be able to have anyone out there to enforce it anyway," he said, and added that it may just lead to disputes out on the sidewalks.

The older signs on Collier Boulevard are green and yellow and will be replaced with 42 red, white and black signs gradually by Public Works.

The new signs costs $21 each from Naples Signs and the existing poles and hardware will not need to be replaced, Miller said.

He added that he did not believe the original signs, which were part of the Collier Boulevard improvement project, were itemized, so the cost to the city of the original signs appears to be unknown at this time.

If the signs along South Collier Boulevard are successful and easily indicate how the community may use the new shared-use pathways, the same signs with the new language, "shared use path, please be courteous," will be used along pathways in the city parks as well, said Parks and Recreation Director Dana Souza.

The only difference is that the signs in the parks will likely have a green and yellow color scheme.

The long term plan is to expand the existing four-foot sidewalks along all major roadways to eight-foot, multi-purpose pathways and have an interconnected system through the parks, Souza said.

Some of the primary roads where multipurpose paths may run parallel to the street include Barfield Drive, Winterberry Drive, San Marco Road, Bald Eagle Drive and the remainder of Collier Boulevard, he listed.

Some of these projects may be as far out as the year 2013 or beyond.