The DIY Crosswalks of San Diego

https://therivardreport.com/crosswalk-appears-on-st-marys-strip-prompting-swift-action-from-city/ https://therivardreport.com/a-broadway-crosswalk-at-the-pearl-at-least-for-a-day/

With Love from San Fran

http://sfist.com/2017/10/09/guerilla_group_installs_new_safety.php http://www.sfweekly.com/news/guerrilla-safety-group-improves-fell-and-baker/

With Love for Bike To School Day

Pullman, WA
DIY separated Bike Lane

Market Street DIY Bike Lane (SF)

https://twitter.com/SFMTrA/status/856311764073328640

With Love From San Francisco

With Love From Portland

Source: http://bikeportland.org/2016/02/11/a-closer-look-at-the-better-broadway-pop-up-protected-bikeway-174752

With love from Seattle

Walkway, 11ft lane. People drive slower past the walkway, and kids now have a protected space to run for the bus pic.twitter.com/zw0MMqZUnm https://twitter.com/SEA_DOTr

The Quick Fix (NYC)

With Love From LA today

Fuck Starbucks Hack

Source: http://sprudge.com/mysterious-fuck-sign-appears-briefly-above-seattle-starbucks-77218.html

Before and After on the HWY (2001)

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_eye/2015/02/11/guerrilla_public_service_on_99_invisible_richard_ankrom_replaced_a_los_angeles.html

Traffic sign hacking (LA)

http://www.laweekly.com/news/la-traffic-sign-is-hacked-to-say-read-a-f-ing-book-photos-5331670

Twenty is plenty

The Reasonably Polite Seattleites (updated)

http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2013/04/04/guerrilla-road-safety-group-politely-installs-illegal-bike-lane-protectors-on-cherry-street/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Update (victory): http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2013/07/15/sdot-makes-guerrilla-installed-protected-bike-lane-permanent/

Radical cyclists peddle sharrow agenda in Victoria

Posted By: Simon Nattrass

04/13/2011 12:00 AM

In the middle of the night, with no warning at all, pedestrian infrastructure was savagely attacked by a gang of bike riding anarchists known to authorities only as the Other Urban Repair Squad (OURS). Shunning reason and civilization, these brutes painted another round in the series of sharrows marring our streets since 2009.

Or not.

Maybe a group of concerned citizens got together and decided to take up arms (read: paint) in the name of improving local cycling amenities. You figure it out.

Sharrows are road markings indicating a shared-use lane where roads are too narrow to incorporate a bike lane. OURS has been painting these markings around the capital since 2009, focusing on high-traffic areas with little existing bicycle infrastructure.

Yukon Duit, spokesperson for OURS says the group is painting sharrows to highlight the gap between car and bike infrastructure upgrading and maintenance in the capital.

“We’re talking about bike lanes that just disappear into the ether in the middle of a route. Imagine if these were vehicle routes — we would never do that to cars.”

According to councillor John Luton, due process — meaning engineers, studies, and consultation — is still what’s needed. OURS, in contrast, is undemocratic and unsafe. “I want this decision made by professionals, not by the self-appointed vanguard of cyclist’s interests,” Luton says.

Or maybe not.

“This is exactly what democracy looks like. It’s engaged citizens helping to shape the public sphere,” says Duit. “The City of Victoria collapsed its one formal group for cyclists to have their voice, so there’s no longer a direct route for cyclists to communicate our needs to the city.” As far as Duit is concerned, OURS is filling that void.

While the group doesn’t necessarily adhere to Transportation Authority guidelines when applying sharrows, Duit says that’s not the idea.

“Our point is not that we’re using the exact materials and spacing,” Duit says. “Our point is that the city should be doing it. This is the next best thing while we wait for the city and the region to take action. Of course the city is going to do a better job — that’s the whole point.”

In the end, while the goals of activists, radicals and officials (in this case, anyway) appear to coincide, debate over method may still doom future sharrows to less-than-legal status. M

O.U.R.S. Victoria Opens Urban Repair Season With Style

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VICTORIA’S ‘Other Urban Repair Squad’ (O.U.R.S.) STRIKES Again:
Cycling Activists Paint “Guerrilla Sharrows” to launch spring cycling season

March 22, 2011 - Coast Salish Territories, Victoria –
Victoria’s celebrated Other Urban Repair Squad (O.U.R.S) has painted more
“sharrows” along a busy commuter route in Victoria. The markings run
along Lansdowne Road, which links downtown with the Camosun and
University of Victoria campuses.

"Now that it's spring more folks will be riding their bikes to work
and school,” says Yukon Duit, spokesperson for the group. “We do our
nighttime urban repair work because of a simple wish to get more
people out of their cars and onto their bikes. We’d like to kick off
the cycling season on a safe note, and let cyclists know that even
though the City has forgotten about their infrastructure needs, we
haven’t.”

Sharrows – short for “Shared Use Arrow” – are bicycle-and-chevron
markings indicating a shared use lane. The markings are used in cities
across North America and Europe on roadways that are too narrow to
incorporate a full bike lane.

It's been nearly a year since guerrilla sharrows were painted on
different sections of Hillside and Lansdowne - an area of town which
many cyclists agree should have more bike lanes connecting to the
downtown core. Yet, neither the CRD nor the Cities of Saanich and
Victoria have responded with any further developments.

Another set of guerrilla sharrows running along Lansdowne in front of
Camosun College were left untouched by the City of the Saanich – a
progressive move that was applauded by the cycling community.

"We know from our experience that painting bike lanes is cheap. You
can buy a lot of paint with $2-million, so we thought we'd show the
Region and City how it's done. Again," says Duit. “For its part, the
City is making decisions in the dark, without the input of the cycling
community, and at a snail’s pace” claims Duit, pointing to the
shutting down of the City of Victoria Cycling Advisory Committee
nearly three years ago.

Each year there are 1,300 crashes involving cyclists in British
Columbia, and on average, 10 people are killed. When car and bicycle
collide, the cyclist invariably loses.

“I was always afraid to bike to school before, but seeing the sharrows
on the road has helped me know that cars pay attention to me on my
bike” said Eva Moores-Afely when OURS interviewed random cyclists that
used the sharrows on their commute to Camosun College last year.

"It’s clear that despite touting Victoria as the cycling capital of
Canada, the CRD and the City do not see cycling infrastructure as a
priority,” states Duit. “None of the City of Victoria’s $189-million
2010 budget was allocated to the Sustainability Department, yet nearly
$69-million was spent repairing major vehicular roadways into the city
and $3-million was spent on automobile parkades.”

“The City and the Region needs to put their money where their mouth
is, and do more to support commuter cycling,” notes Duit. Bike lanes
along the Hillside-Lansdowne corridor would encourage cycling among
the University of Victoria and Camosun College communities which see
over 34,000 students and 5,000 faculty and staff accessing the
campuses during the school year. Studies have shown that the biggest
barrier to getting more people on bicycles is the perception of danger
on the road due to inadequate cycling infrastructure.

O.U.R.S Victoria is part of a larger international network of Urban
Repair Squads across North America, Europe and South America that
encourages people to reclaim ownership and stewardship of urban spaces
by constructing urban infrastructure through direct action.

To receive more info or to see high resolution photos email:
oursvictoria@graffiti.net

OURS Victoria Strikes Again

Guerrilla street painters struck on Cook Street this week, were “sharrows” briefly appeared between Fairfield Road and Southgate Street, but were immediately painted over by city of Victoria crews.

The sharrows — shared-use arrows reminding drivers to share road space in areas too narrow for full bike lanes — were painted by Victoria’s Other Urban Repair Squad, which describes itself as a “collective of bike advocates, commuter cyclists and active community members.”

The group said in a news release that the Cook Street sharrows were the fourth attempt to increase cycling security in Greater Victoria.

Sharrows painted earlier this year on Lansdowne Road have not been removed, but last year, two sets of markings on Hillside Avenue were immediately painted over as city staff said they were confusing and could be dangerous. Sharrows are used in some cities, but are not approved in Greater Victoria.
© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

Public Support for OURS in Victoria

http://mondaymag.com/articles/entry/letters-july-8/

http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/Unofficial+sharrows+make+roads+safer/3245114/story.html

Awesome O.U.R.S. (Victoria) Strikes Again (Press Release)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
‘Other Urban Repair Squad’ (O.U.R.S.) Hits Victoria Again:
Cycling Activists Paint “Guerrilla Sharrows” in Response to Slow Expansion of Bike Lanes
(Lansdowne Road between Richmond Road and Foul Bay roads)

June 24, 2010 - Coast Salish Territories, Victoria –Victoria’s Other Urban Repair Squad (O.U.R.S) has painted more “sharrows” along a busy commuter route in Victoria. The markings run along a street linking downtown and Camosun and University of Victoria campuses.

"It's been nearly a year since we painted the sharrows on Hillside and there's been no action at all from the CRD in terms of providing more bike lanes," says Yukon Duit, spokesperson for the group. The Hillside sharrows were subsequently painted over by City workers last July.

Sharrows – short for “Shared Use Arrow” – are bicycle-and-chevron markings indicating a shared use lane. The markings are used in cities across North America and Europe on roadways that are too narrow to incorporate a full bike lane.

Sharrows were adopted last year by the Transportation Association of Canada, which approves standards and guidelines for road design and markings across Canada. The markings have not been officially adopted by any of the municipalities in the CRD, although they are used to designate major bike routes in many other cities in Canada - most notably in Montreal and Vancouver.

"It’s clear that despite touting Victoria as the cycling capital of Canada, the CRD and the City do not see cycling infrastructure as a priority,” states Duit. “None of the City of Victoria’s $189-million 2010 budget has been allocated to the Sustainability Department, yet nearly $69-million will be spent repairing major vehicular roadways into the city and $3-million will be spent on automobile parkades.”

The City of Victoria 2009-2028 Capital Plan Project Budget allocates $2-million for a bike lane along Yates from Government to Wharf. Duit, however, says that the funds are misdirected.

“That’s a lot of money to spend on one block – and a lane on a downtown commercial block does not do much to support commuter cycling,” notes Duit. Alternatively, bike lanes along the Hillside-Lansdowne corridor would encourage cycling among the University of Victoria and Camosun College communities which see over 34,000 students and 5,000 faculty and staff accessing the campuses during the school year. Studies have shown that the biggest barrier to getting more people on bicycles is the perception of danger on the road due to inadequate cycling infrastructure.

The sharrows were painted 2 weeks ago. “I feel much safer having [the sharrows] there,“ says commuter cyclist Idid Itoo. “Cars and trucks are definitely responding differently, and giving me more space on the road.”

"We know from our experience that painting bike lanes is cheap. You can buy a lot of paint with $2-million, so we thought we'd show the CRD how it's done. Again," says Duit. “For its part, the City is making decisions in the dark, without the input of the cycling community, and at a snail’s pace” claims Duit, pointing to the shutting down of the City of Victoria Cycling Advisory Committee nearly two years ago.

O.U.R.S Victoria is part of a larger international network of Urban Repair Squads across North America, Europe and South America that encourages people to reclaim ownership and stewardship of urban spaces by constructing urban infrastructure through direct action.
-30-

For more information:
To receive more info on the whereabouts of the new sharrows or to see photos email: oursvictoria@graffiti.net

O.U.R.S. Victoria media (2010)
http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/97162834.html

O.U.R.S Victoria media (2009):
http://www.mondaymag.com/articles/entry/to-diy-or-not-to-diy/food-and-life/ http://www.timescolonist.com/travel/Sharrows+need+official http://www.timescolonist.com/news/City+crews+obliterate+guerrilla+road+marks http://www.timescolonist.com/travel/City+erases+more+bike+sharrows+Hillside http://www.timescolonist.com/travel/Cycling+activists+leading

An earlier report by City of Victoria Councillor John Luton on the success of sharrows in Montreal:
http://cyclfac_toolbox-3wc.thecyclistwebhouse.com/sharrows/Index.htm

O.U.R.S. Victoria, B.C. Follow-Up

By Steve Carey from the Times Colonist
"Marr also mentioned that the folding of Victoria’s cycling advisory committee in 2009 into a new Environment and Infrastructure Public Advisory Committee is frustrating to Victoria’s cycling community, as there is no longer a formal communication channel.
That frustration came out when a group painted sharrows, markers meant to remind motorists to share the road, along Hillside Road and other cycling routes. The markers are common in cycling hubs such as Seattle, and are used in Saanich. The Victoria sharrows were removed by the city, which cited liability issues. The GVCC board of directors states that better communication would prevent these actions."

Clearly the GVCC is out of touch with reality just as much as the City of Victoria.
The only thing preventing such wonderful actions is safe passage for cyclist in Victoria ...NOW!
Everything else is just talk. Taking action instead like painting the sharrows on Hillside Road is a pure declaration of love to the city of Victoria and all its residents and especially cyclists. Sadly those who think they are speaking and acting on behalf of cyclists and residents refuse to accept this love letter written in paint for what it is: sanity.