Country Club Road lane sharing causes concerns

Country Club Road in West El Paso has not always been the easiest road to navigate and it has some drivers agitated.

“I think it’s wrong,” driver Barbara Wheeler said. “There shouldn’t be bikers in that lane.”

The lanes on Country Club Road are labeled “sharrow lanes” which mean bicyclists and drivers have to share the same lane.

Wheeler said at one point on the road she was behind four cars that were following a pair of bikers using the entire lane. Due to the narrow street and only one lane per direction, there was no way to pass the bicyclists.

“It is dangerous,” Wheeler said. “People get on that road and hope to get to where they are going at least 30 miles an hour if not more.”

But Martin Bartlett, a spokesman for the city of El Paso, said there are no other options available.

“We were required by the federal government to include a bicycle facility on that stretch of roadway,” Bartlett said. “Because of the constrained right of way along that section of road there was not room to build a full dedicated bike lane.”

If you are driving on Country Club Road, keep in mind cyclists are allowed on the road and it is not a violation.