Parking-protected bike lanes – paths separated from moving cars by parked cars, and from parked cars by buffer materials – might not be too far down the road for several Pennsylvania cities, including Harrisburg.

While Harrisburg does have bike lanes, none currently are protected by parked cars or other barriers. But on June 10, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Transportation Committee unanimously approved a bill that would remove a common obstacle to installing parking-protected bike lanes on streets throughout the state.

Current state law requires that vehicles be parked within 12 inches of the curb, leaving insufficient space for a bike lane between parked cars and the curb. The law applies to all streets in Pennsylvania, even though some streets are controlled by local governments and others are controlled by PennDOT.

If passed, House Bill 792 would allow vehicles to be parked within 12 inches of a buffer area separating them from the bikes. This would mean that bike lanes could run in between parked cars and the curb instead of next to moving traffic. Buffer areas, Harrisburg City Engineer Wayne Martin said, may consist of paint and vertical plastic posts or other materials.

The bill also allows for parking-protected pedestrian plazas to be built in lieu of bike lanes.

A nearly identical bill has been introduced in the Senate, but the Senate Transportation Committee has not yet voted on it. Only one is needed to pass for affected bike lane installations to move forward.

The movement to allow parking-protected bike lanes has drawn the support of four Pennsylvania mayors, who sent a letter in May to the chairs and minority chairs of the transportation committees urging them to pass the bills.

The letter – from Harrisburg’s Eric Papenfuse, Lancaster’s Danene Sorace, Philadelphia’s James Kenney and Pittsburgh’s William Peduto – insisted that the legislation be moved along quickly so that cities can proceed with projects that involve consideration of parking-protected bike lanes.

“Protected bicycle lanes encourage a safer experience on our roads for all riders, and parking protected bicycle lanes have consistently been demonstrated as a best practice in cities across the country,” the letter said. “Delay in passage will threaten these important projects and add unnecessary expense.”

The mayors also said that better biking infrastructure will stimulate a greater diversity of users and improve safety for all travelers.

“Parking-protected bike lanes not only provide a safe space to cycle, but also improves safety for pedestrians and motorists by shortening crossing distances and calming excessive speeds,” the letter read.

According to PennDOT press secretary Alexis Campbell, legislation that would permit the installation of parking-protected bike lanes is a “focus area” of the department.

“The department is invested in highway safety for all modes, and we are encouraged that overall bicycle crashes continue to trend downward,” Campbell said in an email statement. “PennDOT recognizes the value of roadway designs that separate people riding bicycles from motor vehicle traffic, especially in downtown centers and urbanized areas, and with thorough planning, design and collaboration.”

If the bill passes, Harrisburg would be able to move forward with a construction project on the PennDOT-controlled State Street, which some have called the deadliest street in the nation for its high rate of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities.

Martin said PennDOT granted the Harrisburg a highway occupancy permit to perform roadwork on the five-lane State Street, which will involve adding four crosswalks and replacing two traffic lanes with two parking-protected bike lanes. But in order to add the bike lanes, Harrisburg needs the bill to pass.

After HB792 was approved and amended by the committee, it was introduced to the full House and referred to the Rules Committee, which schedules hearings on bills. House Transportation Committee Minority Chair Mike Carroll (D-Luzerne) said he hopes the bill will be re-introduced this week.

“I'm a believer that we should give local governments the ability to do what's best for their community,” Carroll said. “And if the city of Philadelphia or any of the other cities in our state think that having a protected bike lane is a smart alternative to having bicycles out in traffic, I support that.”

But with the House’s summer recess starting July 1, Carroll said, the bill is not likely to move farther than a full House vote until the fall.

Martin said he does not expect much opposition.

“I have not heard one person speak out against allowing protected bike lanes, and I can't even imagine what a complaint might be,” he said. “I understand that there may be individuals who don't want a vehicle lane to be taken for bikes, that I totally understand. But this legislation reaches far beyond that. It basically says, [currently], even if you were to build a road wide enough, a new road – you couldn’t have a situation where you have protected bike lanes.”

Randy LoBasso, policy manager of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, said he believes the only barrier to the bills passing is “the wheels of government.”

“It's not controversial legislation,” LoBasso said. “It is just allowing us to do something that people already wants to do, and that's already been proven to be safe.”

If the bill is approved in the House, it will go to the Senate Transportation Committee, and if it passes there, to the Senate as a whole. Approval there would move it to Gov. Tom Wolf for his signature.

NOTE: This story was corrected on June 26 to indicate that current state law requires that vehicles on all roads, those controlled by PennDOT and those controlled by local governments, be parked within 12 inches of the curb.