With all the hub-hub about the Master Bike Plan in the last month, it’s easy to forget that the Bicycle/Pedestrian folks in the City Public Works Department are tirelessly working little by little each day to make our city more bicycle friendly and walkable.

Whoa, look at all that room! Bicyclists and parked cars, neither the twain shall meet on westbound Mary Street

Recently, I’ve been helping Austin CarShare get caught up on service of their fleet. I bike from car to car and while I was coming home today, I ran across this grand, spankin’ new set of bike lanes on Mary Street in Bouldin just south of the river. One of the few upsides of our ridiculously wide suburban streets is that they are often big enough to accommodate a lane of car and bike traffic each way PLUS on-street parking. What’s great about this implementation is that the bike lane is made distinctive from the on-street parking by being placed further out in the street instead of right next to the curb. This means its very unlikely that you’ll have to go out into traffic to get around parked cars as was implemented earlier in another part of Bouldin. Well done to Annick and her crew.

Got any new bike lanes, paths, or facilities in your neighborhood or on your commute? Send us a picture and a short description and we’ll share it with everyone else.