A bump in the bike lane
The city kills a bike lane to appease neighbors.
For the most part, the story of Austin's big increase in bike infrastructure has been a happy one. Unlike our other major infrastructure projects, the bike lanes have been deployed quickly and rather cheaply. In many instances, concerns about bike lanes dissipate after they're actually implemented, even when they come at the expense of car lanes or parking, as was the case on Shoal Creek Blvd and Barton Springs Rd.
But there are exceptions. From KXAN:
The city of Austin is about to spend $80,000 to remove bike lanes installed six months ago because of the volume of complaints from Southwest Austin neighbors.
The city says the installation of the two-way bike lane installed on Hillside Terrace Dr. in Circle C coincided with an 8% drop in average vehicle speed and a 25% reduction in speeding. But on the other hand...
..."Neighbors were reporting challenges getting to the mailboxes, frustration with not being able to park immediately in front of their home, and then just concern that we put in too many signs and markings in their neighborhood where they weren’t before,” said Anna Martin, the Assistant Director with Transportation and Public Works for the city of Austin.
Suffice it to say, I'm not terribly sympathetic to these concerns. I don't understand why people with garages and driveways care so deeply about also having space to park on the street in front of their homes. It's hard to think of a smaller sacrifice for the sake of safer streets.
