Transit Priority Lanes for Cyclists, 101.

We received an email from the City of Austin Bicycle Program regarding Transit Priority Lanes that are coming to Guadalupe and Lavaca streets and we want to share the explanation of this new mobility feature with you. Happy reading and riding!

Transit Priority Lanes 101 Greetings! There are some changes coming to Guadalupe and Lavaca streets and we want you to be in the know. The Austin Transportation Department’s Transit Priority Lane project has created new bicycle facilities along both roads. Guadalupe and Lavaca now feature bicycle lanes on the right side of the road, outside of the new Transit Priority Lane, from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to the north, to Cesar Chavez Street to the south. The new bicycle lane is similar to any other dedicated bicycle lane. Right-turning cars must yield to the cyclists in the lane. The northbound dedicated bicycle lane continues from the South 1st Street Bridge onto Lavaca. On Lavaca, between 4th and 5th Streets and between 6th and 7th Streets, a dedicated right-turn lane causes the bike lane to cross to the left of the right-turn lane. Again, right turning cars must yield to cyclists in the bicycle lane before turning right. Between 14th and 15th Streets on Lavaca, cyclists must yield to passing buses before continuing in the dedicated bicycle lane. On Guadalupe, cyclists have a dedicated bicycle lane from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to 16th Street. In the next block, cyclists must yield to buses and carefully move to the left to share a lane designated for bicycles and buses only. A bicycle-only lane is restored in between West 14th and 13th Streets and continues to 3rd Street. At 3rd Street, cyclists share a lane with mixed traffic until a designated bicycle lane is created again for cyclists traveling straight onto the South 1st Street Bridge. If a bus is making a stop, the lanes are wide enough to allow cyclists to carefully pass around the bus on the left side, and wait for a green signal in front of the bus. Cyclists are still required to follow all traffic laws while riding on the road, according to state law.