Is it legal to chain bikes to street signs?

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

On my way to work I often see bikes chained to street signs. At times, I see the same bikes chained to the same street sign for many days in a row. Is it allowed in Somerville?

Comments

[ron_newman]

As far as I know, yes. But if a bicycle appears to be abandoned while chained to a street sign, you can call 311 to get it removed, or fill out this form.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Also did it occur to you that while there are indeed many abandoned bikes attached to street signs all over the city, a lot of them only *seem* that way because the bicycle owner attaches them to the same street sign every single day.

Besides, if the city is going to start getting vigilant about removing abandoned bicycles, I would prefer if they start with the BIKE RACKS because that would actually SERVE A PURPOSE. There are some obviously nonworking bikes (i.e. missing essential components) that have been chained to the racks at South Station for several years now. Given how often the rack fills up, it can feel a little bit like trying to find a space in a nearly full parking garage while half the spaces are taken up by junked cars.

[gruene.livejournal.com]

I recommend you call the City of Boston and report them abandoned. We had an abandoned bike on our block for several months and when I finally called Somerville about it, it was a gone within a week or two. I'm not sure if Boston has a similar process, but I imagine they do.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure the bike rack at South Station is MBTA Police jurisdiction, which is why (given their tiny, tiny budget) it hasn't already been taken care of in so many years.

[gruene.livejournal.com]

In that case I recommend the MBTA's "Write to the Top" program:

http://mbta.com/customer_support/write_to_top/

I've used twice before and both times the issue (a bus not following its route and a non function sign) were fixed almost a immediately.

I realize you must be thinking, "surely they know about this already", but in many cases they simply do not. The 351 bus was occasionally taking the wrong route for years and many of my coworkers would not take it because of the risk of having to walk the additional half mile. When I finally complained to the T about it, I received a prompt reply apologizing and promising better route instruction for the drivers and I never again was on a bus that went the wrong way.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Yes, and I have used it a few times, however what I'm thinking is, this is the largest bike rack and the busiest station. If this one hasn't been taken care of, it's because they aren't taking care of it.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

It's easy to tell if a bike is actually abandoned. Just poke at the tires to see if they're flat, and push gently on the chain to see if it's rusted solid.

(But a rust-colored chain is *not* evidence of an abandoned bike. A local college police department decided my bike was abandoned because the chain was rust-colored, even though I ride it every day. So I took the opportunity to remove all the abandoned bike tags that shouldn't have been issued.)

[m00n.livejournal.com]

How about the bike down the street that has no chain and has been locked to the same no parking sign for at least 6 months now?

[ron_newman]

See the first link I posted above. If you report it, the city will look at it, wait 5 days to see if it is removed, and then remove it if it's still there. I've only done this once but the city really will respond.

Some of these probably ended up in the city Bike Auction last month.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Unlike the MBTA I actually do have faith in Somerville's ability to deal with these kinds of things. I just hadn't said anything because I was debating "borrowing" something from this bike myself ;-)

That said, it's a shitty bike and it's an eyesore and it may actually have been stolen to begin with so maybe I should say something.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

why do you care?

[syntheticnature.livejournal.com]

When the snow narrows the sidewalks, an abandoned bike can make it worse.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

when the elephants fight, it's the grass that gets hurt.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Whether the knife falls on the melon or the melon on the knife, the melon suffers.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

a woman walks into a bar and orders a double entendre. the bartender gives it to her.

[samsdaddy.livejournal.com]

A nun, a goat and John Hancock walk into a bar. The bartender says, "What is this? Some kind of joke?"

I care because at times I would like to...

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

do the same with my bike...

Re: I care because at times I would like to...

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

In that case you probably don't want to ask them to enforce a rule like "no locking bikes to street signs." If you took the opportunity to ask them to install additional bike parking racks, your fellow cyclists would appreciate it :-)

Re: I care because at times I would like to...

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

I did not plan to ask them to enforce the rule. I wanted to know if it's illegal (and if it is , if it seems to be enforced).

[ron_newman]

I'd care mainly if an abandoned bike is taking up a place where someone would want to lock an actual working bike, for instance to visit a business. Also, abandoned bikes tend to attract opportunistic thieves and vandals.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

In somerville and cambridge, the laws are very specific as to where a bicycle can be parked on public property. In somerville a bicycle can be locked to signs, parking meters and bike racks. They can not be locked to trees or hand rails. You are supposed to maintain a 3 foot wide path on the sidewalks with signs, shrubbery, walls, etc taken into account. It would be nice if this were actually enforced for all things but people don't. There are lots of tree boxes and hedges that infringe on this regardless of bicycles. In cambridge the rules are effectively the same except that it is illegal to lock your bicycle to a parking meter.

In boston, there are no rules that permit bicycle parking on public land and some interpretations suggest that you may not lock your bicycle to anything but a bike rack. When police get pissy, this is how the law is interpreted.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Wait, it's illegal to lock to a meter in Cambridge? Do you have a cite for that? Man, that is going to complicate trips to Harvard...

[xuth.livejournal.com]

section 12.9 paragraph (c) of the Cambridge "Traffic, Parking and Transportation Regulations" (http://www.cambridgema.gov/CityOfCambridge_Content/documents/tpat_regulations_sept_2009_update.pdf) says:

Bicycles are not permitted to be parked to: fire hydrants, hand railings, benches, trees, trash receptacles and
parking meters.

The whole of it is:

Sec. 12.9 BICYCLE PARKING ON THE PUBLIC WAY

• (a) Bicycles are permitted to park against a building, street sign pole, or on a bicycle rack or other facility specifically intended for that purpose.


• (b) Under no circumstances shall a bicycle obstruct the pedestrian path of travel or disability access ramps. A parked bicycle must leave at least 36 inches of an obstruction free path of travel.


• (c) Bicycles are not permitted to be parked to: fire hydrants, hand railings, benches, trees, trash receptacles and parking meters.


• (d) Bicycles shall not be parked longer than 72 consecutive hours at the same loction in any business district as defined in section 12.8.


• (e) Bicycles in violation of the above regulations shall be tagged and removed immediately if presenting a public safety hazard as noted in section 12.9 (b) and given a 72-hour notice to remove for violations in section 12.9 (c) and (d). Removed bicycles shall be held by the City of Cambridge Department of Public Works for a minimum of 30 days.


• (f) No motorized vehicles shall be parked on a bicycle rack or other facility specifically designed and intended for bicycle parking. Violators are subject to immediate removal from the City of Cambridge Department of Public Works or Police Department.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Well, that's annoying.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

As a hint, the rule against locking up to a meter is basically unenforced in cambridge unless the bicycle looks abandoned. In city council meetings the city manager has said that he has no intention of enforcing it. Note that the city must give you 72 hours to remove the bicycle after they've given you notice that you're not allowed to park there. So effectively you can park your bicycle at a meter for the day so long as you aren't a dick about it.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

This is a helpful hint :).

[ron_newman]

Supposedly the rule exists so that the city can remove meter heads for repair without exposing a bicycle to theft (as it would now be "locked" to a pole with nothing on top of it). It is obviously not enforced very often, from what I see around Cambridge every day.