Urban cyclists do battle in city bike lanes: they dodge illegally parked cars, open doors, makeshift loading zones, or drivers that use the bike lane as a freeway. In New York City, blocking a bike lane can earn you a $115 fine, but the regulation is seldom enforced.

Cyclists in New York are standing their ground with creative tactics. To preserve their safety, they’re resorting to peaceful, renegade protests of the many obstacles that prevent optimal use of bike lanes (a highly controversial subject, as we’ve noted here in previous posts).

It’s arguable as to whether ill-maintained bike lanes actually make cyclists safer, but New Yorkers have taken matters into their own hands—with cans of spray paint and stencils.

From the NYT: 

At a bike lane on Hudson Street near Christopher Street, one rider placed a cardboard stencil on the pavement, and others covered it with white spray paint. When they lifted the stencil an image of an automobile bisected by a diagonal line was left behind. 

“I want to remind drivers that it is not all right to be in bike lanes,” said Barbara Ross, 44, a human resources manager, who lives on the Lower East Side and has been a volunteer for Times Up!, http://times-up.org/ an environmental group that promotes nonpolluting transportation. “A lot of drivers don’t think twice about parking in a bike lane because no one tells them not to.” 

Over the next two hours, the bicyclists roamed north, creating a variety of painted images including ones in the shape of a bicycle with a heart and the words “love lane.” 

While painting messages on public streets is illegal, Ms. Ross and her companions said that they meant their markings as a service. Most bike lanes in New York are separated from cars only by stripes of white paint, they said, and additional reminders are likely to help cyclists and, maybe, yield more respect from drivers.

Other cyclists have organized mass rides to raise awareness for cyclists and their presence on the streets. 

Next month, the city plans to complete a 2006 project that added 200 bike lanes throughout the five boroughs. NYC has also made an effort to make bike lanes more visible and safe by creating buffer zones between car lanes, and by painting some lanes (in Brooklyn and Queens) with a green stripe. 

Despite the city’s efforts, however, a safe, peaceful coexistence of cars and cyclists doesn’t look promising. For those who forego cars, it will be a long road.

Video at NYT. 

See also: Austin Okays Parking in Bike Lane 

Photos via flickr by ianqui and Canadian Veggie.

Comments (3)

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MarkR said:

In Austin about 10yrs ago there was a bad problem of non handicapped people parking in handicap reserved spaces. There weren't enough police to battle the problem. So guess what they did? They deputized citizens that passed a background test, trained them and allowed them to give out tickets for violations of ADA parking laws. That is all they were allowed to do. So you never knew if Joe Blow shopper was going to write you a ticket for illegally parking in a ADA parking space. Cities should do this for cyclists. Deputize them for Cycling related parking violations. But then again I guess they would deputize drivers to give cyclist tickets for running stop signs like some frequently do. but I guess that would be all that bad either.

May 07, 2008

Katherine said:

My husband and I were cycling around Manhattan this weekend. The highlight was the Five Boros ride (42 miles closed to traffic) but we were up and down some busy streets and didn't feel at all threatened by the drivers. The Parkway was better, though, and this was a weekend day with plenty of light and dry roads. I wouldn't want to ride without a bike lane at night or in the rain, for sure.

May 07, 2008

Nick said:

When they said they were solving it with spray paint, I thought they meant tagging the vehicles parked in the bike lanes. That would surely get attention!

May 08, 2008

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