The bicycle lanes at two Bend intersections are being painted green by the Oregon Department of Transportation in an experimental effort to improve safety, according to ODOT spokesman Peter Murphy.

ODOT chose the intersection at U.S. Highway 20 and Eighth Street and the intersection at U.S. Highway 97 business route and Mt. Washington Drive for the project because each was identified as having higher-than-average collision rates between cars and bikes.

“I’m told they’re both in the top 10 percent of bicycle crashes on Central Oregon highways,” Murphy said.

The green lanes, which have been used in Portland and Eugene for years, are meant to draw the attention of both motorists and bicyclists.

“We wanted to do something to alert motorists of the bicycle lane,” Murphy said. “We’re seeing more bikes on the road in our area, and we want to ensure cars are making room for bicycle riders.”

Crews last week painted a 150-foot stretch of the bike lane on Highway 20. Crews were expected to complete an approximately 150-foot stretch on Highway 97 business route Tuesday night.

“We’re experimenting with a mixture of green paint and a nonskid material so the bicycles don’t slip and slide,” Murphy said.

“The green paint stretches the entire width of the bike lane and will eventually be painted with the recognizable white bicycle symbols,” Murphy said.

Murphy said ODOT will observe the crash rates at these intersections over the next few years to see if the green paint causes crash rates to fall.

“We should have an informal idea of how things are going by this time next year,” he said.

The nonskid material used to paint the lanes is also an experiment. ODOT will watch the lanes through the winter to see how they hold up during the freezing and thawing cycle and after being sanded and plowed during the winter.

If the lanes are successful at reducing crash rates, Murphy said ODOT may consider painting other bike lanes green.

In Portland, there has been some improvement in crash rates, according to an October 2012 letter from Portland City Traffic Engineer Robert Burchfield to the Federal Highway Administration.

“The high rate of drivers yielding to cyclists overtaking on their right suggests that drivers generally understand their duty to yield to cyclists,” he wrote. “Drivers are scanning for cyclists approaching from behind them on their right before executing right-turn movements.”