Last week Grid Chicago received a letter from the United States Postal Service (USPS) in response to our correspondence with them where we advised them of the illegality of parking in bike lanes. I attached photos of two separate USPS vehicles parked in the Kinzie Street protected bike lane sent to me by a Grid Chicago reader.
Then, today, I received a copy of a letter 42nd Ward Alderman Reilly wrote to USPS. As you can tell, he was a bit more stern in asking the organization to respond, saying:
USPS employees have repeatedly been witnessed parking in dedicated bicycle lanes- posing a risk to cyclists who utilize these busy lanes.
Please report back to my office the steps that the USPS will take to address this serious public safety concern.
Our original article on the matter has been the most popular since we began, with over 1,600 views. Please send in your photos of USPS and other delivery vehicles parked in the Kinzie Street bike lane. Our first and only protected bike lane should be that, a protected bike lane, and not another strip of asphalt for people to park in.
- Read the original letter to USPS – July 18, 2011
- USPS response letter to Grid Chicago – Dated August 5, 2011
- Alderman Reilly’s letter to USPS – Dated August 6, 2011
[flickr]photo:5940536383[/flickr]
Let us know if USPS is still blocking the bike lane.
So, what did USPS say?
They said, “We will provide usafety/Service” talks to our employees to bring awareness to this matter. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.”
https://gridchicago.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/usps-letter-to-me.pdf
“Safety/service talks” sounds a bit underwhelming, but at least now you have a phone number you can call to complain directly.
Yeah, it’s underwhelming.
I don’t ride the lane everyday, so I don’t know if it’s happened again. I wonder what UPS and FedEx are up to…
one day last week, i saw the van parked in the lane, but it was amidst the curve from kinzie to clinton, which i didn’t find nearly as bad as the images above only because there’s quite a bit more room for cyclists to get around it.
additionally, on my way in this morning, there were cycling ambassadors and CPD standing at that same curve/stop sign.
On this matter, it’s an all or nothing situation. Either they’re parked in the bike lane, or they’re not. By parking in any section of the bike lane, they remove visibility to the other side, force cyclists to merge into traffic, and perpetuate the “okayness” of parking in the bike lane in this location and anywhere else there’s a bike lane.
The bike lane is well-marked as such so there should be no confusion about where it’s okay or not okay to park.
Send me a photo (from your phone if necessary) the next time you see this.
Sadly, it turns out it’s exactly as “okay” to park in a bicycle lane as it is to park in a normal lane. Maybe one day, the huge portion of our municipal budget that goes into pay police will actually result in traffic law enforcement–instead of leaving it up to behavioral norms born out of cultural acceptance vs. ostracism.