NY Daily News: It’s wheel simple – bikes go here

Move over, drivers – you have company. The city has installed signs and painted biker silhouettes on blacktop in Times Square and two other locations to remind drivers they must share the roads with cyclists.

The markings also were added to Manhattan’s Grand St. and to Brooklyn’s Fifth Ave., where biker Elizabeth Padilla was crushed to death by a truck last year. The spots chosen are along three bicycle routes but in areas where the roadway is too narrow for a separate lane that is off-limits to cars.

“Our hope is the addition of new roadway markings and signs along the heavily trafficked bicycle routes will heighten awareness among drivers and cyclists and help everyone who uses our streets get where they are going safely,” Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall said.

Some motorists and cyclists on Grand St. near East Broadway found the “Shared Roadway Ahead” and “Shared Lane” signs a bit confusing.

But biking advocates said the silhouettes on the pavement leave nothing to the imagination, and make it clear cyclists have an equal right to the streets.

“It’s telling motorists that bikes belong,” said Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives.

The shared lanes also give cyclists space to ride without the risk of having the doors of parked cars opened suddenly in their path.

“It’s something the city should have done a long time ago,” said Raymond Vera, 48, a livery cab driver from Park Slope, Brooklyn. “Maybe it will make people more aware.”

But William Rodriguez, 23, an air conditioner repairman, said he drove past the signs on Grand St. without noticing them, even though they are more than 10 feet high.

Jim Sadek, 40, a frequent cyclist who happened to be driving on Grand St., was doubtful the signage would prompt drivers to change their attitude.

“Drivers don’t care about bikers,” he said.