White Paint or Green Paint?

Bike lane on E. Mason Street Bridge. Photo taken by Graham Kilmer.

What color should bike lanes be: green or white?

A bridge project has prompted Milwaukee County Supervisors to consider the question.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) plans to rehabilitate the E. Mason Street Bridge, which spans N. Lincoln Memorial Drive, bending past the Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. The $2.65 million project will repair spalling and cracking on the bridge deck, which will eventually require the re-striping of bike lanes along Mason Street.

But what color? County transportation officials favored green paint when the issue was discussed in September, while Supervisor Sheldon Wasserman offered a resolution to repaint the bike lanes white.

“The first question is the question of need,” Wasserman said during a meeting of the board’s Committee on Parks and Culture in September.

The supervisor said most bike lanes around the city are painted white, questioning the point of breaking from that pattern. His resolution was chiefly concerned with the aesthetic appeal of the future bike lanes, given that the bridge is in view of the War Memorial and the Milwaukee Art Museum.

“These architectural landmarks, which are seen by thousands of visitors to our community each year, demand that the aesthetics of the nearby area not detract from their historical significance and beauty,” his resolution stated.

Sup. Jack Eckblad waxed metaphorical on the color question, declaring that “a mangled body is a lot less pleasing than green paint.”

Jeff Sponcia, MCDOT transportation planning manager, told supervisors at the meeting in September that the green paint is much more visible that white paint, and contains reflective particles. But committee members weren’t sold.

“This is definitely not ready for primetime,” said Sup. Steve Taylor, and the committee laid the resolution over, delaying any action for now.

In December, Milwaukee County Parks returned to the board with a justification for green paint during a meeting of the Committee on Parks and Culture. James Tarantino, deputy parks director, shared information from the WisDOT bicycle facility manual. For starters, green, as a color in signage and direction, is often associated with “safety and permission” that can reassure bicyclists and alert drivers. Secondly, green paint is becoming a standard for bike lanes being adopted in Milwaukee, and across the state and country.

Wasserman said he spoke with a national expert who told him there is no evidence green bike lanes reduce fatal crashes.

“I’m still against green paint on Mason Street,” Wasserman said.