Ashley’s dedicated, marked bike lane full of parked cars at meters. Poor double duty. [photo]
Ashley & Washington
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Why are there parking meters by a dedicated, marked bike lane? Actually, I don’t see any meters in the photo.
I’m pretty sure that maroon colored vehicle is parked at a parking spot or else driving in the biking lane.
The meters were behind the front car that you can see in the photo. And yes, “why” is the question.
You can see about a meter of plowed, dense, icy snow extending out from the curb in front of the maroon car. Assuming this continues along by the meters, cars are forced to park to the left of it and squeeze out the bike lane. I think there’s an ordinance about parking less than a foot from the curb, but it’s impractical under these conditions.
Our community is spending $50 million on a new parking garage and plans to spend another $50 plus on new parking facilities in the next few years. There are plans for parking structures at First & Washington, Fuller Road, and Washtenaw Community College. You’d think in a community that spends this much on cars, we could have the snow removed from pedestrian crosswalks and bike lanes. Perhaps the “green” talk and alternative transport promotions really aren’t that much of a priority.
@Nick
Even without snow, it is hardly a bike lane if you have to watch out for the drivers’ door opening.
Frankly, most downtown streets have a bike lane, if we just ride to the left of the parked cars.
I’m an avid rider. I’m itching to get back to bike commuting. One of the reasons I don’t ride much in the winter is the narrowing of the streets by snow and ice. (That and having various body parts freeze off!) Many side streets have buildups of ice that extend into the street and it makes riding much more dangerous.
There’s a storm coming this weekend. Early indications are that we’ll be on the rainy side, but if not we could be looking at several inches of snow.
There are a number of places where the city didn’t even completely plow the car lanes, much less the bike lanes. Huron Parkway north of Plymouth was a lane and a half for a while.
It’s awfully hard for them to plow when cars are parked – if it’s not a designated snow emergency route with a declared snow emergency, there’s no guarantee they can plow curb to curb.