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.