VIDEO: Parking Protected Bike Lane Demonstration Calls on PA Senate to Allow Them in PA

Elected leaders help raise awareness to make Parking Protected Bike Lanes legal statewide

On Sunday, September 8, 2019 a coalition of advocates including Bike Pittsburgh, PA Representative Sara Innamorato, City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, and Healthy Ride Bike Share installed a temporary Parking Protected Bike Lane along N. Euclid Ave in East Liberty, followed by a bike ride to give people the opportunity to experience this type of bike lane for themselves.

Elected officials in attendance were Pennsylvania Senators Jay Costa and Lindsey Williams, State Representatives Sara Innamorato and Dan Miller, Pittsburgh City Councilors Erika Strassburger and Deb Gross, and the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, Dan Gilman.

The PA Vehicle code needs to be changed to allow for Parking Protected Bike Lanes

Due to a technicality that requires cars to be parked within 12 inches of a curb, our traffic engineers cannot install Parking Protected Bike Lanes on state-owned roads. The event was an effort to raise awareness about a bill that will allow for Parking Protected Bike Lanes that has already passed the PA House 200-1, but needs to get through the Senate.

7-year-old Alice Lahale, of Morningside, who was one of the participants Sunday…is limited to the sidewalk in front of her house for safety reasons, and she’s not happy about it.

“It’s really boring going back and forth,” she said.

Where does she want to go? “Two blocks; maybe three.”
Click for full article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 8, 2019

Parking Protected Bike Lanes are just one tool used all over the country to keep people on bikes out of harm’s way. It’s a simple and safe design that moves parked vehicles away from the curb, allowing for a bike lane between parked cars and the sidewalk, completely separating of bikes from moving traffic, while usually preserving parking.

Parking Protected Bike Lane projects are on hold in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, York, and Philadelphia due to this language in the vehicle code–these are projects that could save lives.

Both the Mayors of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, as well as their City Councils, have requested that the Pennsylvania Legislature pass the bill to give their traffic engineers the flexibility necessary to keep residents safe.