Ever listen in on some of our city and county commission meetings where some elected local official will complain about drivers using the bike lane as a right turn lane making it dangerous for bike riders and runners?If it was a City of Brownsville Commission meeting, it is most probable that the complainer was commissioner Rose Gowen Zavaletta (with two TTs),a proponent of allocating millions from the budget of the country's poorest community to ensnare the city with a system of connected bike trials.
Proponents of this plan – which they see as the first step toward a healthy community – eventually want to extend the bike trails to the Hidalgo County-Cameron County border and eastward over the Queen Isabella Causeway to South Padre Island.
Toward that end they have talked the city administration and their fellow commissioners to go along with designating certain roads to be considered bike-friendly and implementing bike lanes that actually reduce the amount of macadam cars can use.It doesn't matter – as Brownsville's resident gadfly Robert Uresti said recently – that we already have so many bike lanes that aren't used the majority of the time and that on some "you don't even see a dog walking on them."
thought you might find this entertaining.
Well, a funny thing happened on the way to a half marathon yesterday, on Sunday the 23rd, to be exact.
As we know, Gowen's zeal for the bike lanes led the city to pump tax dollars to put in a hike/bike lane on her street (the corner of Calle Anacua and Calle Retama) which the majority of neighborhoods in the city don't have access to so that walkers and bikers can exercise safely in exclusive Rio Viejo.
And guess what happened during the Historic Brownsville Half Marathon with hundreds of people attending? What does our bike- and pedestrian-friendly commissioner do?
She (drum roll, please) blocks the sidewalk and the bike lane with her car when there is plenty of parking in front of her house.
Various neighbors in the Rio Viejo area lined the roads and cheered on the runners.
And not one other car blocked the safety lane. This is even after the course planners listed the map online AND put out safety cones for the runners.
What message does this send to not just the citizens of Brownsville, but to visitors to our fair city? Was it an honest oversight or a "don't run in my backyard statement?"
8 comments:
picking on the wrong person, juan. get your shit togther, bro
Hahahah.if anyone went to vote at bisd glass palace you will notice that what use to be visitor parking at the very front of the building g is now "coned" off. The bright orange cones say "board members". WHy Would a board member need a reserved spot during regular business hours?
Bike lanes are a pipe dream that have created traffic hazards while bus passengers stand in the elements unprotected in the weather, as Bill Clinton would say "It's all good".
We must remember that Rose Gowen is, first, a Zavaletta and she doesn't have to play by the rules, even those she is responsible for.
The bike lanes throughout the city are used as "right turn lanes" and there is no enforcement. The city, including Rose Gowen, should consider getting rid of the "rules" that are not enforced in this village. Let's enforce the laws/rules or get rid of the bureaucracy that they represent.
Runners in Brownsville? Maybe drug-runners.
Stingy ass bitch! On top of that, the city can't even maintain the current bike lanes. The trail behind Events Center/Paseo Plaza Apts is falling apart. Weeds grow rampant on the Dennet Rd bike lanes and many of the bikes lanes are littered with nails, beer cans and diapers!
Quality of life....my ass! Cyclobia? Another waste of money. Last Cyclobia consisted of more city workers than patrons. Then again, it was set for high heat hours (1PM).
i asked an officer about turning from bike lanes, i was told u can turn if lane is empty, bikes have right of way, i asked about turning not parking, thats a different story
For everyone's information you can use the bike lane when turning right.
The law in Texas is: TTC545.101 "To make a right turn at an intersection, an operator shall make both the approach and the turn as closely as practicable to the right hand curb or edge of the roadway." So in essence using a bicycle lane, as long as you do not run into or hit a bicycle, to right turn is allowed.
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