Cyclists head south on 11th Street in Omaha during the Corporate Cycling Challenge on Aug. 18.
Omaha drivers may soon need to pay better attention to where they park. The city wants to keep parked vehicles out of bike lanes.
A proposed ordinance by City Councilman Pete Festersen would clarify that drivers cannot park along streets in places that obstruct bike lanes.
He said the city wants to make the rules of the road clear to all who use the roadway — cyclists, drivers and pedestrians.
The proposal would allow police to write a $32 parking ticket to a driver who blocks a bike lane, even in places without a no-parking sign.
Julie Harris, who rides in Omaha and advocates for Bike-Walk Nebraska, said she welcomes the effort to keep cyclists safe and moving.
“A bike lane is a travel lane, and for a person on a bike, that lane is no different than a travel lane down the street,” she said.
Drivers would never tolerate someone parking in a lane meant for cars, she said, so cars shouldn’t be parked in lanes meant for cyclists.
The ordinance also includes language making it clear that cars can’t park in vehicle-travel lanes of multilane roads.
Current city ordinances don’t spell out what constitutes a bicycle lane, something the new proposal addresses, said Jeff Riesselman, who heads Public Works’ traffic division.
The proposed definition: “A bicycle lane is a portion of the roadway that has been designated by striping, signage and/or pavement markings for … bicyclists.”
The measure has the backing of Mayor Jean Stothert and Public Works and was inspired by recent issues with parking in which Omaha police lacked a mechanism to write parking tickets for cars left in bike lanes.
Local cyclists have reported vehicles parking in bike lanes on 13th and 14th Streets in downtown Omaha and along 30th Street in north Omaha.
Riders also have encountered parked cars in bike lanes along 16th Street near Martha Street in South Omaha and along Happy Hollow Boulevard in Dundee.
In Dundee, cyclists complained they were being forced into traffic by cars parked in bike lanes.
Because existing city ordinance only prohibits parking in bike lanes if a no-parking sign is posted, police couldn’t ticket or tow cars.
Things have improved along Happy Hollow Boulevard since the city and cyclists reached out to neighbors, including Dundee Presbyterian Church and Brownell Talbot School, officials said.
The Rev. J.D. Georlett, pastor of Dundee Presbyterian, said some of the signage near the church was unclear about where the bike lane ends along Happy Hollow and where people can park. Churchgoers now leave the bike lane clear.
“Everybody in the church wants to do the right thing,” Georlett said. “We want to follow the law.”
A public hearing on the proposal is set for Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. in the Legislative Chambers of the City-County Building, 1819 Farnam St.
10) 72nd and Grover
2016 rank: 9
2018 vehicles per day: 64,000
Traffic trend: Dropping
This intersection, just north of Interstate 80, saw its traffic numbers dip over the two years. But the totals are up significantly from 2014, when it ranked as the region’s 40th busiest intersection.
9) 108th and Maple
2016 rank: 14
2018 vehicles per day: 65,100
Traffic trend: Growing
The 108th Street and West Maple Road intersection is a gateway to and from the Interstate. It draws 16,300 more vehicles a day than the 120th and West Maple intersection.
8) 86th Street/Cass Street and Dodge
2016 rank: 8
2018 vehicles per day: 65,900
Traffic trend: Decreasing, too
This one held its place as the eighth-busiest intersection.
7) 78th and Dodge
2016 rank: 5
2018 vehicles per day: 66,200
Traffic trend: Decreasing
Traffic counts are down through the stretch of Dodge Street east of Omaha’s busiest intersection and through intersections including 86th, 84th, 78th, 72nd and 69th Streets. It’s still Dodge Street — they’re still busy intersections. Just not as busy.
6) 144th and Industrial Road
2016 rank: 26
2018 vehicles per day: 69,150
Traffic trend: Increasing greatly
Traffic at this intersection backs up often, and its counts grew by 14,450 in the two-year period.
5) 72nd and Pacific
2016 rank: 3
2018 vehicles per day: 72,300
Traffic trend: Dropping, too
The 72nd and Pacific intersection ranked third but now is fifth.
4) 72nd and Dodge
2016 rank: 2
2018 vehicles per day: 75,850
Traffic trend: Dropping
The 72nd and Dodge Street intersection is still a busy one. But the numbers show that traffic there has dropped a bit in the past few years. In 2016, it ranked as Omaha’s second-busiest intersection. With the daily vehicle total dropping by 7,750 — and with southwest Omaha traffic picking up — 72nd and Dodge fell a couple of spots.
3) 132nd and L/Industrial Road
2016 rank: 7
2018 vehicles per day: 84,250
Traffic trend: Increasing a lot
The 132nd and L Street/Industrial Road intersection isn’t far behind its counterpart a mile east at 120th and L, seeing just 500 fewer vehicles per day. But its increase is greater — growing by 13,500 vehicles a day in the two-year period. It draws a lot of traffic from Millard, and Sarpy County beyond that, along with traffic from west Omaha and the West Center Road corridor. In 2013, the Streetsblog website named it the Worst Intersection in America for the trouble it poses pedestrians.
2) 120th and L
2016 rank: 4
2018 vehicles per day: 84,750
Traffic trend: Increasing a lot
A several-mile stretch of L Street/Industrial Road -- including the 132nd and 144th Street intersections -- is drawing a lot more traffic. Traffic at 120th and L Street grew by 10,200 vehicles a day over the two-year period, according to MAPA’s numbers. That’s a nearly 14% increase. It’s an important corridor through southwest Omaha. At 120th Street, the intersection is essentially a gateway and exit point for Interstates 80 and 680.
1) 90th and Dodge
2016 rank: 1
2018 vehicles per day: 106,900
Traffic trend: Growing
This is Omaha’s busiest intersection, as it has been since construction of the elevated West Dodge Expressway, which addressed traffic backups at 114th Street and West Dodge Road. When that $100 million project happened, it was expected that the busiest intersection would shift down Dodge to 90th Street. It has — 90th Street and West Dodge Road now has more traffic than 114th and West Dodge did before construction of the elevated expressway.
aaron.sanderford@owh.com, 402-444-1135
Aaron Sanderford
Aaron covers political news for The World-Herald. Follow him on Twitter @asanderford. Phone: 402-444-1135.
