Sorry folks, but I’m back to playing catch up. Firstly, the Oklahoma City Council is holding the public hearing phase on the major changes to the city’s bicycle ordinances. The meeting is occurring today starting at 8:30 AM in the City Council Chamber on the 3rd floor of 200 N. Walker.
As you can see from the full agenda, there is a lot of ground being covered so I can’t really say when the ordiances will changes will be considered. If it happens when I happen to have a free moment, I will be live tweeting the discussion at @okcbicyclist.
As previously reported and in brief, these ordiance changes consist of the following:
- The proposal would allow cyclists to have full use of the lane on any road designated as a bicycle route. A bicycle route is a designated piece of a road way primarily consisting of the 200 miles of bike routes laid out in the city’s cycling master plan, not just a road containing a “Share the Road” sign.
- In relation to the proposal above, the ordinance would specifically state that a vehicle would be required to fully change lanes to over take the cyclist on designated bicycle routes. If there is no room, to change lanes, the vehicle would be required to yield to the bicycle as a piece of normal traffic and comply with “all traffic control devices and pavement markings which prohibit lane changes.”
- Limits the conditions upon which more than two people can ride upon a bicycle.
- Broadens the places where cyclists can park their bicycles on sidewalks.
- Limit the use of “tall handlebars” (handlebars taller than 12 inches) except upon recumbent bicycles.
You can read the full list of changes here.