Bike lanes or more parking spots?
The debate has been a flashpoint in some densely-populated cities. And it's raging this month in Hartford.
After hearing complaints from some residents and local business owners, the Hartford City Council is weighing a proposal to rethink existing bike lanes in the city, and consider restricting them to provide space for more parking.
A resolution introduced in April calls for the city to study cycling infrastructure, with a special focus on the impact of bike lanes on small businesses.
Shop owners have complained that bike lanes are creating a parking crunch and impeding business, according to text in the resolution explaining why it was brought forth.
Bikers, though, are up in arms. A group of them are planning a 鈥渞ide-in rally鈥� to Hartford City Hall on Monday during a council public comment period to voice their concerns about the resolution.
Jay Stange, an active transportation consultant who frequently bikes in Hartford, said the measure is 鈥渃ounterproductive."
He said bike lanes help slow traffic down in the city and make people on the streets safer.
鈥淲hen business owners say, 'Hey, I want to choose between a bike lane or a parking place in front of my business,' what they're doing is they're overlooking the opportunity to create a slow, safe, more productive street,鈥� Stange said.
Under the resolution, the Department of Public Works would be tasked with exploring alternative options. Those could include time-restricted bike lanes, or diverting bike traffic to shared-use paths, like sidewalks, in areas such as downtown Hartford with a high concentration of businesses.
鈥淲hat business owners are overlooking in this debate is that people who walk and ride bicycles and use the bus are customers,鈥� Stange said.
Hartford has made progress growing its network of cycling paths in recent years.
In 2019, the city created a Bicycle Master Plan, providing a framework for future development.
The city has also received public funding to improve pedestrian and bike safety.
Hartford got $160,000 in state funding last year to support a city-wide trail system that could include new bikeways and walkways connecting parks to the riverfront and downtown area.
Hartford also facilitated the arrival of 220 electric scooters, partnering with a private company and the Capitol Region Council of Governments on the initiative. Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said in a statement in August that it would 鈥渘ot only make it easier for residents to access public transit and navigate the City without a car, but to be a leader in sustainable mobility in Hartford and beyond.鈥�
In 2023, the city received a $19 million federal grant to improve pedestrian safety on one of the busiest streets in Hartford鈥檚 North End. Some of that money will go towards bicycle facilities.
But the city also quietly clamped down on traffic enforcement.
The Hartford Parking Authority stopped ticketing cars illegally parked in bike lanes for a year, its chief executive officer, Jill Turlo, said at a city budget hearing on April 29. Turlo added some members of the council told her to do so.
Councilwoman Maly Rosado said she made the request after a business owner on Zion Street told her the bike lanes were impeding customers.
鈥淚 as a council member did reach out to Miss Turlo with a concern,鈥� Rosado said during the hearing. 鈥淣ot only Zion Street 鈥� There are other businesses that are involved, to find a better way that works for our small businesses and the bike lanes.鈥�
Councilman Josh Michtom said he was troubled by that.
鈥淲e officially have ordinances, and then quietly we make accommodations for our business-owning friends,鈥� Michtom said at the hearing. 鈥淚鈥檓 trying to understand how it was that for a year we suspended a law and the operations of this agency that is before us without any action by this body.鈥�
The council referred the resolution on bike lanes to its Planning, Economic Development, and Housing Committee. Phone and email messages left for some of the council members who introduced the resolution were not returned.
If the resolution is adopted, city staff would need to conduct the study and submit a report after six months providing recommended modifications to existing bike lanes and cost estimates for the work.
Arunan Arulampalam's father-in-law is Gregory B. Butler, who is a member of the Board of Trustees of 黑料吃瓜网.
