bike lanes

kate amerson wrote:
> it's curious, the survey asks how we commute for work but not how we
> tend to transport ourselves in our non-work time, since there are some
> who must use a car for work-
>

All of transportation capacity planning in this country is done for
those 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon which are
referred to as rush hour.

Sebastian Wren wrote:
>
> I personally see this parking-next-to-bike lanes arrangement as a fairly
> reasonable compromise. The cars have room to park; the bicycles have a
> clearly marked lane... So I don't see the liability problem.
>

Sorry, I thought you were talking about parking IN the bike lane, which
is how Shoal Creek is set up. Your other example, Exposition, also
allowed parking in the bike lanes until about 9 months ago.

That is most curious. I was just on Springdale Road today, and I
noticed that the city has recently added parking-next-to-bike lanes
there, too. And, of course, I forgot to mention the one we have here in
our neighborhood -- Guadalupe, south of 51st Street. And the last time
I was riding my bike on Exposition a week ago, the parking lane was
still there, and cars were parked in it.

I just want to add that I enjoy having the bike lane as a pseudo-sidewalk when I walk to Epoch.  It makes the walk more comfortable knowing that both cars and peds/bikes have designated spaces.  Previously, I'd often hop onto the grass when a car was coming to avoid it.(Normally I wouldn't encourage walking in bike lanes, but Chesterfield has low enough bike/car volumes that sharing the space works well. Plus there isn't a sidewalk or other place for walkers.)

Monty wrote:
> I would hope that someone would bring up the fact that patrons of Epoch
> are ignoring the 'no parking' signs in the bike lanes on NL and
> Chesterfield. One sign has been spray painted over. I have noticed
> that police officers rarely ticket cars that park in the bike lane.

As far as I know, the police never write parking tickets unless it's an
immediate safety concern.

Hmm...I'm not sure the Hyde Park NA deserves all this criticism.  Hyde Park has better-maintained and more numerous sidewalks and bike lanes than Northfield.  It might be wrong to assume the forces of xenophobia or paranoia are the reason for this decision.  I read another post on the austinzoning website suggesting that the real reason is because of parking/egress issues.  Apparently,

Monty wrote:
> He tells me that
> 1. it isn't illegal to park in the bike lane'

This is false for any bike lane installed in the last 5-6 years. It's
only older bike lanes on residential streets that allow parking, and
these bike lanes are being systematically removed when the road is
restriped to avoid confusion. Please let the cop know that he doesn't
know what he's talking about.

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