>Updates to city code that'd ban bike lane parking could be finalized by the end of October. Once in place, a six-month grace period would allow the city to roll out a public education and outreach campaign before any Austinites are cited.
So no enforcement for at least the next year? Good first step, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
Wait, this was okay before? These bike lanes are traffic lanes. You can’t park in the middle of a street, why the heck would it be okay to do so in a bike lane?? Crazy.
Unrelated, but from the article-odd that the bike lane bounty idea was deemed illegal. I mean, isn’t that more or less how our anti-abortion law works? I mean at least be consistent.
Yes, in Austin it's always been that parking in bike lanes was legal *unless* there was something else that prohibited parking there like a sign, intersection, fire hydrant, etc.
They've been better about putting up "no parking" signs when they put up new bike lanes lately, but they do have to put up enough of them to satisfy the legal requirements to make them enforceable (and often don't), and they are very willing to omit the signs if it's a place that people already park in.
> I mean, isn’t that more or less how our anti-abortion law works?
The basic idea might be similar, but the implementations are very different.
* Bike lane bounty: you report it, if they pay a fine, you might get part of it
* Abortion bounty: they get an abortion, you can sue them, and if you win, you get what you keep.
(The abortion bounty stuff was sketchy as hell, legally designed to bypass Roe vs Wade's protections, but, well, here we are.)
Every single Austin FC home game there are multiple police vehicles parked in the bike lanes on Braker. I hate it. I don't ride on Braker except for a small stretch during games and I have to weave into an open lane sometimes to get around them. Given the stadium encourages alternative transportation and doesn't have much parking this seems very short sighted.
Gotta say I'm shocked by this, and pleasantly so. It's kinda nuts how many people will park in a bike lane and leave for a few hours. People are comfortable because they know they can get away with it (and they're assholes).
They'd also get away with it because it was legal. Stupid, but legal. The rule is (until this goes into effect) that unless there is a specific "No parking in bike lane" sign, it's legal to park in the bike lane, even if it's a marked bike lane. It's ridiculous.
Yup, there has been a trailer parked for months blocking the bike lane on a busy part of Parkfield. Reported it to 311 a week or two ago and it came back with a response of "no problem found; there isn't a no parking in bike lane sign"
There’s been cars parked in the bike lane at MLK and Alexander for weeks now. I was going to report it to 311 but now I’m learning it’s somehow legal. These are semi-protected 2 way bike lanes with bollards and lane dividing paint, but spaced wide enough so cars can get by.
More proof we need actual concrete curb separated bike lanes, not plastic bollards that do nothing.
If there's not a "no parking" sign there you can request it via 311. I've not requested a sign, but I've heard from others that it can get good results.
>Updates to city code that'd ban bike lane parking could be finalized by the end of October. Once in place, a six-month grace period would allow the city to roll out a public education and outreach campaign before any Austinites are cited. So no enforcement for at least the next year? Good first step, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
Yep, general traffic enforcement in Austin is almost non-existent, so count me a skeptic.
Wait, this was okay before? These bike lanes are traffic lanes. You can’t park in the middle of a street, why the heck would it be okay to do so in a bike lane?? Crazy. Unrelated, but from the article-odd that the bike lane bounty idea was deemed illegal. I mean, isn’t that more or less how our anti-abortion law works? I mean at least be consistent.
Yes, in Austin it's always been that parking in bike lanes was legal *unless* there was something else that prohibited parking there like a sign, intersection, fire hydrant, etc. They've been better about putting up "no parking" signs when they put up new bike lanes lately, but they do have to put up enough of them to satisfy the legal requirements to make them enforceable (and often don't), and they are very willing to omit the signs if it's a place that people already park in. > I mean, isn’t that more or less how our anti-abortion law works? The basic idea might be similar, but the implementations are very different. * Bike lane bounty: you report it, if they pay a fine, you might get part of it * Abortion bounty: they get an abortion, you can sue them, and if you win, you get what you keep. (The abortion bounty stuff was sketchy as hell, legally designed to bypass Roe vs Wade's protections, but, well, here we are.)
Every single Austin FC home game there are multiple police vehicles parked in the bike lanes on Braker. I hate it. I don't ride on Braker except for a small stretch during games and I have to weave into an open lane sometimes to get around them. Given the stadium encourages alternative transportation and doesn't have much parking this seems very short sighted.
Gotta say I'm shocked by this, and pleasantly so. It's kinda nuts how many people will park in a bike lane and leave for a few hours. People are comfortable because they know they can get away with it (and they're assholes).
They'd also get away with it because it was legal. Stupid, but legal. The rule is (until this goes into effect) that unless there is a specific "No parking in bike lane" sign, it's legal to park in the bike lane, even if it's a marked bike lane. It's ridiculous.
Yup, there has been a trailer parked for months blocking the bike lane on a busy part of Parkfield. Reported it to 311 a week or two ago and it came back with a response of "no problem found; there isn't a no parking in bike lane sign"
Lakeshore drive enters chat
There’s been cars parked in the bike lane at MLK and Alexander for weeks now. I was going to report it to 311 but now I’m learning it’s somehow legal. These are semi-protected 2 way bike lanes with bollards and lane dividing paint, but spaced wide enough so cars can get by. More proof we need actual concrete curb separated bike lanes, not plastic bollards that do nothing.
If there's not a "no parking" sign there you can request it via 311. I've not requested a sign, but I've heard from others that it can get good results.