The above photo is from several months ago, but given what folks are telling me today, about just as many cars are already parking in the 4th Street Bike Lane, now that its physical separations of curbs and flexposts have been yanked.

Heck, maybe some of these same cars from last July are parked there right now. As noted on KOB-TV and here at Better Burque, the new ABQ Department of Municipal Development spokesperson yesterday called physical separation and “no parking” signs on bike lanes “redundant.”

Well, the photo above is sure redundant. We’ll probably be able to take a very “redundant” one, filled with drivers illegally parking, every day for quite some time.

Yes, there’s a new ordinance soon to be heard by the City Council that will perhaps help enforcement of bike lane parking infractions. But given that the terms “Albuquerque Police Department” and “enforcement of traffic laws” have been largely oxymoronic for years, one can only imagine the image above will be eminently replicable, like Bill Murray in “Groundhog’s Day,” for quite some time.

I was personally optimistic about the new ordinance, even the enforcement aspect (despite my innate skepticism), until hearing the DMD spokesperson’s speak of “redundant” yesterday. If that is the official position on the benefits of providing separation of cyclists from motorists, we’ll have the chance to shoot thousands, if not millions, of photos such as above before this town is anywhere close to one offering roadway safety and comfort to cyclists from 8 to 80.

I feel a bit silly even mentioning the possibility this could ever happen here, at present.

To misquote the infamous Allen Iverson press conference, “we’re talking ‘redundant,’ man. We’re talking ‘redundant.’ Not safety. Not traffic safety for all users. We’re talking about “redundant,’ man.”

“‘Redundant.'”