I hopped on my bike for a leisurely ride home this afternoon and was greeted with this at the corner of Jefferson and Clinton.
An entire block of cars parked in the "bike lane" on Jefferson.
I’ve encountered this type of “disregard” for cyclists in the past, and adjusted by taking the lane. I figured with two lanes, cars could safely go around me. That was a bold assumption. For the one block I was required to “take the lane” I was nearly clipped three times. It’s tough to know where to begin after dealing with this degree of disrespect from the Iowa City driving population (I managed to get a good look at many of the license plates, and they were Iowan).
First of all, signs on Jefferson allow parking from 6am to 1pm on Sundays. This is a bit upsetting that the City even allows parking in a “bike Lane” (it’s really a sharrow on this block) for a period of time one day a week. What’s more, is the neglect in enforcement it after the allowed time (there weren’t any tickets on the windshields).
Perhaps a better issue to raise is the lack of consistency with bike infrastructure in our city. We need bike lanes or sharrows not both. If bike lanes are to be implemented the need by adequate, clean, and parking in them should not be allowed – at all. The flagrant violation pictured above is proof that we need consistent infrastructure and enforcement.
The best way I can describe the lack of willingness of drivers to find approved parking is amateur (lazy comes to mind as well). This type of behavior from drivers only creates division in an issue that requires cooperation. I realize occurrences such as this are rare, but allowing this behavior sets a very poor precedent. If we are to even maintain our “bike friendly community” status this needs to be addressed.
