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I am not in Austin, but I am in Texas. The town I live in has had a clear requirement to install bike lanes on arterial roads in its municipal codes, "arterials have two through lanes plus a bicycle lane in each direction separated by a median..." The traffic engineers interpret this as "bicycle accomodations" and implement sidewalks as "bicycle accomodations." The engineer also has stated his personal opinion in public hearings and communications to citizens, that no bike lanes should be installed on any collector or arterial, because bike lanes would encourage people to ride their bikes and increase the likelihood of a cyclist getting hit.
So now my question, is the engineer violating the law by re-interpreting the phrase "bike lanes" as sidewalks? If so, what can be done to get him (and the traffic dept) to comply?
Or, if no one knows the legal answers, is there a lawyer who knows TX law on this that could take a look at this at a low cost? I can't afford much but I'm sick of getting told that bike lanes are dangerous...
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I dont know whether TBC would like to do anything about it, but they seem to me the ones you should contact.
http://www.biketexas.org/
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Indeed, a sidewalk is not a bike lane, so if it's in municipal code, it is breaking the law. What does the City Council have to say about it...or has it not gotten to the point where they would comment? And the head of your public works?
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The engineers are good at diverting. When City Council asks them, they say they're all for bike lanes but they don't have budget, and they quote the cost of widening a street by 16 ft and adding an 8 ft bike lane in each direction as the cost of bike lanes, so they say bike lanes cost $300K/mile. That pretty well shuts up City Council in a deficit year.
When citizens ask, they generally change wording. They say that the code requires 'bike accommodations', and the sidewalk qualifies. When the code is quoted back to them, they get indignant and start talking about TxDOT and AASHTO standards, and how they have to have minimum 12 ft traffic lanes and 8 ft bike lanes. The strawman generally works and moves the argument to other things, and the legal requirement for bike lanes passed up.
City Council also doesn't pay attention to details like the recommended street profile. Engineering just reworked those last year, and they have sidewalks instead of bike lanes so all new development that builds to the recommended standard won't have bike lanes.
I don't know how binding municipal code is, or if an engineer can override it with their professional opinion, or alternate definitions of bike lanes under TX law, hence the question.
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When citizens ask, they generally change wording. They say that the code requires 'bike accommodations', and the sidewalk qualifies. When the code is quoted back to them, they get indignant and start talking about TxDOT and AASHTO standards, and how they have to have minimum 12 ft traffic lanes and 8 ft bike lanes. The strawman generally works and moves the argument to other things, and the legal requirement for bike lanes passed up.
That's not a strawman. It's not really a red herring either, but that's a better description -- it's really just changing the subject or ignoring the issue.
Ultimately, I think the way to resolve such a situation (if they won't listen to you) is to sue them. As bizikletari suggested, I'd say http://www.biketexas.org/ would be the place to start.
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edit, misplaced.
Last edited by rich00 (2010-05-25 18:43:57)
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