Church Funeral Attendees Taking Bike Lanes for Parking?
The 15th Street bike lane. (Luis Gomez Photos).
By Michelle Lancaster. You can follow her and let her know your news on Twitter @MichLancaster. Email her at michellel[AT]borderstan.com.
TBD investigated what is and is not allowed for a church funeral. The official policy indicates that parking in the bike lane is not permissible; tweets from some irritated cyclists, however, testify to the policy on the street being compassionate “parking permissiveness.”
If the cars were double-parked and causing traffic on 15th Street NW for motorists, would the situation have been different? It’s worth noting that the DC Department of Transportation responded to the cyclists’ complaints, but the cars were gone by the time the unit showed up at the church (St. Luke’s Episcopal at 15th and P NW, by the way).
This is not the first time residents have voiced concerns over a church’s parking; in 2006 and then again in 2008, Sunday morning double-parking sparked a lot of heat and anger in Logan Circle. Since the issues have been raised (then and now in the comments), as to whether is this simply a preferential play for cars… or do Christian churches, or African-American Christian churches, get spared more tickets than area temples?
Or is ticketing just infinitely more lax on Sunday, which has little to do with some people thinking that it’s God’s day?
