The Austin American Statesman is reporting that the City of Austin will be converting parking along Dean Keaton north of the UT Law School to back in parking shrinking the road from 6 lanes of traffic to 4 and adding a bike lane each way. Back in parking requires the driver to go past the space angle out toward the street and back into the spot.
Safety seems to be the biggest concern.

Advocates for reverse-angle parking make several arguments:

It’s safer to pull into traffic pointing forward, with the driver getting a clear look to the left for oncoming traffic.

It’s safer for passing bicyclists. While a cyclist would lose the advantage of seeing brake lights of a car backing out, the driver in a reverse-angle parked car would be less likely to pull out and hit a bicycle.

Given the position of opened doors in a reverse-angle parked car, children or dogs exiting would be funneled toward the sidewalk rather than toward passing traffic.

A trunk adjacent to a sidewalk is safer to unload than one thta is facing traffic.

Getting the bike lane withou having to worry about getting doored is a big boon. The City will also begin charging for this previously free parking leading hopefully to more people riding.

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