If you bike, walk or drive in Bellingham, chances are you’ve seen the green and white paint on city streets marking the way for cyclists.
Bike boxes — like bike lanes and other markings — help keep the roads a little safer.
A bike box is a green-painted space at the front of a traffic stop designed to give cyclists a safe place to wait at a red light. Cars stop behind the box on a white line, allowing cyclists to move in front of them from the designated bike lane.
Once cyclists move into the bike box, they can position themselves to turn left, right or continue straight. Cars stopped behind a bike box aren’t allowed to make right turns, helping avoid collisions with cyclists. Bike boxes increase cyclists’ visibility and allow them to group together at red lights, clearing an intersection faster when the light turns green.
To learn more about safe cycling in Bellingham, visit the city’s biking and walking page, or watch its “Bike Boxes and Beyond” video.
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