Description
Twice over the past three days I saw a police van parked in the bike lane (marked a no-stopping zone) in front of the Wawa on Spruce at the intersection with 38th, the SE corner. In both instances there were spaces a few yards ahead in the legal parking/loading zone area.
This is a tricky intersection to bike through to the east, with the bike lane in front of the Wawa frequently blocked (the no stopping-zone apparently not enforced), shunting bicycle riders into the car lane. It is generally frustrating that the police do not enforce this no stopping zone, and incredibly galling that we twice saw an officer himself breaking the law and ignoring other illegal parking.
On December 31st, 2010 at about 12:30pm the van # was 2502. We saw an officer get out of the van and enter the Wawa. At the same time, three cars were parked in front of the van, in the no-stopping zone in the bike lane. There were spaces in the legal parking/loading zone ahead, and the officer did not seem to be in any kind of hurry. We parked in the loading zone, ran into the UPS store for a few minutes, and the van was still there when we came out (and there was still space to park in the loading zone).
Today, on January 2nd, 2011, at about 10:45am we saw another police van, # 1901, in the same situation - parked in the no-stopping zone in front of the Wawa, with cars in front also parked in the bike lane/no stopping zone.
13 Comments
Bernard Brown (Guest)
This hasn't stopped. Cars in general park in the no-stopping zone, and I've only once seen an officer (Penn police) writing a ticket, this a couple days after I emailed the Penn police to complain. I've seen Philadelphia PD parked several times since I posted this problem, and this morning at about 8:30am I took a photo of one of the cops parked in a perfect place to cause an accident.
Bernard Brown (Guest)
Here's another one from Saturday (10/1) at about 4:20pm. The extra annoying part is that Penn Police (I think) put up a sign reminding people that this is a bike lane, not a parking lane, but that didn't stop the Philadelphia PD from parking there and ignoring the other vehicles already parked there.
Bernard Brown (Guest)
Here's one from this morning. While I was waiting at the light on the other side of 38th (about 8:30am) I got to watch the officer park and walk into the Wawa, with an open space maybe 10 yards away in the loading zone. Apparently the walk was too arduous for Philadelphia's finest.
Bernard Brown (Guest)
Yesterday morning (1/9/12) at around 8:50am I saw three cars parked in front of the Wawa, two were Phila PD, an SUV and a sedan. I think the SUV was #9612.
Bernard brown (Guest)
This morning at about 8:50 i saw 2 ppd cruisers chilling in the no parking zone. I pulled into the loading zone a few yards ahead of them to take a photo - plenty of space up there for 2 cars, again showing that philly's finest would rather endanger our lives than walk a few yards for coffee. I've noticed also that the penn police have been getting lax about this too.
Bernard Brown (Guest)
Here's the photo from this morning.
Bernard Brown (Guest)
I noticed police cars parked there both in the morning (about 9:15am) and on the way home (about 6:10pm). Penn police have been doing a good job of keeping the lane blocked off enough to discourage general parking, but the Philadelphia police apparently don't care.
Bernard Brown (Guest)
Still frequently blocked. The cones that Penn Police set out have made a difference, so now I think it's only about half the time that I find the lane blocked on my way to work. This morning it was a Penn Facilities van blocking the lane.
Josh Cohen (Guest)
I am however still seeing the majoruty of bikers breaking traffic laws all over the city. I had a biker hit my vehicle than take off and now my insurance has to cover the cost of the repairs. I think the bikers should be registered. I am a home owner and I wish this decision to put a bike land on my block was discussed and put on a ballot for a vote prior to installing the lanes.Ii can't even unload packages on my side of the street with out fear of getting a ticket.
Josh Cohen (Guest)
I have lots of pictures and video's of bikers breaking all sorts of traffic laws from not stopping at red lights,riding on sidewalks and talking on cell phones etc. I think if we can not share the road with out complaining about every little thing one should not live in the city.
Bernard Brown (Guest)
I agree that cyclists should obey the law, and I'm sorry about the damage to your car. That sounds extremely frustrating. That said, I'm not sure why some cyclists disobeying the law means we shouldn't address a dangerous intersection. I think your complaints about cyclists in general belong in a different forum than the comment thread on this specific complaint. And, to address your second point, if I complained about every little thing, I wouldn't have time for anything else :-). This is a particularly dangerous spot - and the Penn police seem to agree based on their attemps to make it better - so I've continued to follow it.
Bernard Brown (Guest)
This morning I saw a Penn Police SUV (last 4 digits of license tag were 6759) ignore parked cars at the Wawa, then pull out into a U-turn on Spruce, a stretch where U turns are illegal. Ever since they pulled the barriers along the bike lane edge, people have been routinely parking in front of the Wawa and again shunting bicycle traffic into the car lane at a dangerous spot. It is particularly frustrating to see the Penn Police ignoring the situation like this.
Jason Cohen (Guest)
Maybe we need to ge rid of this bike lane here. This should be put on a ballott for voters to vote on.