The issue of parking in bike lanes persists but has a partial explanation.
This time, I counted 20 cars parked in bike lanes along Ospika Boulevard (and yes, along the crest of the hill on the s-curve leading from Ospika North) and another four along Fifth Avenue.
I also got to swerve out of the way of an oncoming car in my lane, which itself was swerving away from a driver pulling out from their spot on the s-curve.
If it's not even safe for cars, how bad is it for cyclists?
As it turns out, local residents parked their cars along that dangerous stretch of Ospika at the direction of someone at the City of Prince George.
Apparently, work is being done to something underground, affecting access to a parking lot, so last night the cars were shuffled out to the street.
No signage (until this morning), no warning, no traffic person slowing drivers down, not one thing was done to explain what was going on or to mitigate the danger.
Most cyclists ride to and from work, or recreationally, before/after work, exactly when there is no one to answer the phone at bylaw services.
This creates the problem of a bylaw requiring enforcement at the exact time there is no one available to enforce it.
Maybe the RCMP, at 24 per cent of our municipal budget, could be moved to pitch in?
I still have little doubt in the good intentions of our mayor and council regarding bike lanes and enforcing access to them.
Looking around town at the drivers blithely parking in the lanes and the lack of a bylaw officer walking the sidewalks, writing tickets, coupled with residents being directed to ignore the lanes, I wonder what it will take for the managers and staff of city hall to get the message.
John Moxin
Prince George
