Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Bikeway Legislation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances bill to keep bike lanes clear; staff flag shared-use carve-outs and enforcement needs
Summary
The committee advanced Bill 28-25 to prohibit standing, stopping or parking in bikeways after the sponsor cited 92 bicycle crashes in the first half of the year (five serious injuries, two deaths). Staff proposed clarifying amendments to exclude signed shared-use parking and noted enforcement jurisdiction and potential costs; committee supported the bill without objection.
The Transportation and Environment Committee considered Bill 28-25, a measure to prohibit vehicles from standing, stopping or parking in bikeways, and moved it forward after staff identified clarifying language and implementation issues.
The sponsor opened the item by citing safety data and the bill’s purpose: "In the first 6 months of this year there were 92 crashes involving bicyclists, 5 caused serious injuries and 2 were fatal," the Chair said, and described the legislation as a simple protection to keep bike lanes clear and support broader Vision Zero goals.
Staff discussed definitional choices that could affect every-day parking on shared-use roadways. The original draft included shared-use roadways in the bikeway definition; DOT and county staff suggested a narrower approach to preserve existing signed parking in some residential streets. The options presented were (1) remove shared-use roadway from the bikeway definition, or (2) retain shared-use roadways but carve out an exception where parking is specifically signed as allowed. The committee favored the carve-out approach so as not to unintentionally remove existing legal parking where signs permit it.
DOT and MCPD staff urged robust public education and noted that much of the county’s bikeway mileage is painted lanes or shoulders that are not physically separated. MCDOT said sign-violation enforcement in PLDs typically uses posted-sign fines (about $60) and that the same fine would apply to bike-lane sign violations; staff said they will clarify fine language in the packet to full Council.
Committee members pressed on enforcement capacity and costs, and on the need for consistent jurisdictional approaches, noting that municipalities, police and county traffic units all play roles. Council staff recommended careful consideration of exemptions (buses, emergency movements) and suggested those issues could be refined in future work.
The committee indicated support for the bill without objection and staff will clarify the fine language and produce a final packet for full Council consideration.
