04-03-2018, 12:51 PM
I asked Melissa Durrell (thread starts: https://mobile.twitter.com/RobDrimmie/st...1483823104) when enforcement of the lanes will begin, and she responded: "Awareness has started. Bylaw officers are placing postcards on car windshields... letting them know they are parked on a cycle lane. Construction should begin in the next couple of weeks. From that time forward cars will be ticketed. The Bike lanes will be open for cyclists."
I strongly suspect it was a concession to the BIA, and I appreciate that there's a period of education happening. As a cyclist I think it's absurd that the lanes were given over to parking at all, but I can appreciate the pressure from business owners and the public that would have resulted from a whole swath of area just going unused. The unpaved portions wouldn't have been usable by cyclists through much of the winter either.
Even if the city had finished construction and the bike lanes were treated as such through the winter, there would be cars parking in them. There will be cars parked in them once construction is complete. There are going to be delivery vehicles parked in them on a regular basis, and the city will probably do nothing to enforce that, either.
None of that makes it right. That burden of safety on cyclists (and pedestrians) is one I resent. I'm actually hopeful in this case that the round of construction to finish off the bike lanes will have a positive impact. It has the potential to create a clear delineation. Construction will be done for a year or two to appease the BIA and habits will form. I agree that it would have been better to be enforcing from day one, but this at least is a better indication of change than just some Monday morning what was parking on Sunday becomes a bike lane.
I strongly suspect it was a concession to the BIA, and I appreciate that there's a period of education happening. As a cyclist I think it's absurd that the lanes were given over to parking at all, but I can appreciate the pressure from business owners and the public that would have resulted from a whole swath of area just going unused. The unpaved portions wouldn't have been usable by cyclists through much of the winter either.
Even if the city had finished construction and the bike lanes were treated as such through the winter, there would be cars parking in them. There will be cars parked in them once construction is complete. There are going to be delivery vehicles parked in them on a regular basis, and the city will probably do nothing to enforce that, either.
None of that makes it right. That burden of safety on cyclists (and pedestrians) is one I resent. I'm actually hopeful in this case that the round of construction to finish off the bike lanes will have a positive impact. It has the potential to create a clear delineation. Construction will be done for a year or two to appease the BIA and habits will form. I agree that it would have been better to be enforcing from day one, but this at least is a better indication of change than just some Monday morning what was parking on Sunday becomes a bike lane.