Complete Streets bill will change the rules for cyclists, drivers

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Complete Streets bill will change the rules for cyclists, drivers

POSTED: Thursday, December 6, 2012, 12:41 PM

After years — really, years! — of lobbying by urban planning and cycling advocates, City Council today passed, with little fanfare, the "Complete Streets" bill. The legislation not only requires the city to (as logic would seem to demand anyway) consider travelers using all modes of transportation when designing streets but also changes the rules of the road for how cyclists and drivers interact. The bill provides for $75 fines for riding or parking your bike in violation of the rules, or for parking your car in a bike lane.

You might say that the creation of uniformity in this matter is somewhat out of character for this City Council, which this June voted to amp up its control over streets design even more, by requiring all new bike lanes that affect parking or remove a lane of traffic to be approved by Council. Nonetheless, proponents see Complete Streets, helmed by Councilman Mark Squilla, as a big step.

Squilla told CP when he was planning to introduce the bill that the reason for the hold-up, he thought, was that people didn't see "the increase of usage that we're having now. You actually see that there is a need for it. Before, I don't think the vision was there that [cycling] was coming to the forefront." He said he didn't see a conflict between Complete Streets and the bike-land-approval bill. "I think they work hand in hand."

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