B. Carfree

After a lot of work, my neighborhood finally got a half-victory on a "neighborhood collector" street when the traffic engineer agreed to remove the parking from the south side of this east-west street. Unfortunately, rather than adequately buffer the bike lane on the north side from the parked cars' door zones, he chose to use most of the space gained to widen the travel lanes. Still, we now have one bike lane that is not in the door zone, so something positive came out of our efforts.

Naturally, the motorists are now parking in the bike lane. I have called both the city's parking department as well as the police several times since the road was reopened. Today's conversation with the police dispatcher was classic:

BC: The cars are completely blocking the bike lane and are hanging out into the travel lane
Dispatcher: They're partially blocking the travel lane?
BC: Yes, they are partially blocking the travel lane and are completely blocking the bike lane.
Dispatcher: Well, since they are blocking part of the travel lane, I'll send a unit out.

CB HI

Why did you even bother mentioning the bike lane?

achoo

Yeah.

The bike lane is a travel lane, too.

CB HI

Not in the dispatcher's view point.

Maybe next time, it should be reported as blocking more than 1 travel lane. Then they will send 3 cops cars and a couple of tow trucks.

randomgear

Try contacting your Transportation Dept or DPW - different places have different names. They might be willing to look at adding signage/makings. If the Parking Dept is a part of a greater Transportation Dept (not the Police Dept) the they may be able and willing to send out meter maids/traffic enforcement/tow trucks even when the PD doesn't think it to be an issue.

B. Carfree

I spoke with the traffic planner who is responsible (we worked with him to remove the parking that previously existed along that curb). He says his department (traffic engineering, part of public works) can't do anything, but he did suggest some guerrilla action. The parking department only works limited hours and limited locations and, according to its head, cannot do patrols outside very specific zones without a current complaint. Thus, when I call him on Tuesday he can send someone out to cite the cars (they won't tow them out of the way), but he can't send someone out on Wednesday. It's not a policy he likes; he says it is the result of a court decision.

Maybe I should go get a semi and park it across the freeway just to test our local commitment to equal protection. I just want my illegally parked tractor and 53 foot long trailer to be treated like any other illegally parked vehicle. (I wouldn't actually do this because motorists are so lame someone would inevitably run into the thing at 70 mph and die.)

CommuteCommando

The vehicle code in CA, (And I suspect the OR VC does too), Specifically prohibits parking in designated bike lanes, except for emergency vehicles and maintenance vehicle on legitimate business. I take a picture of the car that clearly shows the bike lane, and the cars licence plate, then e-mail it to the local police parking enforcement division. I know of at least one that resulted in a ticketing.

genec

I see you are in San Diego county.... Try that picture taking routine for a car parked in a bike lane along Genesee near La Jolla Country Day school and see if that ticket gets issued. Apparently along 45MPH Genesee road, the bike lane has magical properties where rich folks are involved... in spite of the very clearly marked "No Parking Bike Lane" signs.

I used to work on Campus Point, just East of the highway 5 and Genesee intersection, and was regularly frustrated by the vehicles that parked along the northern edge of Genesee during rush hour. Somehow they all had magical properties, in spite of the signs, and the nearby police sub station.

CommuteCommando

I commute through Irvine where the law does not apply to BMW's on Alton parkway, or so they thought.

Brandonub

As near as I can tell from observation, BMW drivers are fairly sure that most rules of the road do not apply to them. After all, they're in the Ultimate Driving Machine (tm)

Chris516

This situation reminds me of a situation I was in a couple years ago. It didn't involve a bike lane, but an entire road. There was a ditch in the road, about the diameter of a baseball or softball going from one side of a four-lane 30mph road to the other. The way I described to the city DOT, I said that the only vehicle that could get across the ditch without a problem, was a monster truck. Every motorized vehicle would end up having some sort of damage. I did mention that I only commuted by bike, but that I was calling on behalf of all motorists that chose/had to travel on that road. I got them to come out in less than a week.

kmv2

Here's a genius I took a picture of the other day. Not only blocking the bike lane but the sidewalk too. He was sitting in the car and honked at me for taking his photo.