WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Frustrated homeowners along Lake Avenue in West Palm Beach are calling for the removal of bike lanes they say have eliminated critical parking spaces in their neighborhood.
Daniel Ruiz, who lives along Lake Avenue, said the road project has created a massive parking shortage for residents south of Southern Boulevard.
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"We have a huge parking problem in our area," Ruiz said.
The bike lanes replaced what used to be parking on both sides of the street, according to Ruiz. He estimates about 500 parking spaces were eliminated to make room for the bike lanes — roughly equivalent to the entire capacity of the Waterfront Garage on Clematis Street.
While WPTV was in the area, no cyclists were observed using the bike lanes, which Ruiz said is typical even when it's not raining.
"Everyone has cars here. My neighbor lost about 6 car spaces since he bought his house. Imagine they take away 6 car spaces from your house," Ruiz said.
The controversy began in 2019 when the bike lanes were first proposed.
Ruiz showed a petition that homeowners signed attempting to stop the project, but their efforts were unsuccessful.
Since then, the parking situation has only worsened, according to residents.
The only alternative parking for Lake Avenue homeowners is on side streets in front of their houses, but Ruiz said the city has been installing new "No Parking" signs on streets closest to Lake Avenue.
Francisco Rodriguez, another affected resident, said his family owns three cars but only has one parking space. His neighbor has two cars and one parking space.
"Now we can't even park in front of our house; we'll get a ticket," Rodriguez said, whose family has only gotten bigger in the 30 years he's lived there.
Rodriguez said he has received about three parking tickets for parking in front of his house, as has Ruiz.
When asked what he would like the city to do, Ruiz's answer was simple: "Remove the bicycle lines."
Ruiz and his neighbors attended Monday night's West Palm Beach Commission meeting with a new petition filled with signatures asking the city to remove the bike lanes and restore their parking spaces.
"These are large houses, people have families here, for holidays you invite people over for Christmas, where are you going to park now?" Ruiz said.
Richard Dolezal, another concerned resident, addressed commissioners directly about the issue.
"It is time for the administration to step up, admit these bike lanes are a bad idea and abandon them. The actions to address these concerns of the West Palm Beach people have been seriously neglected," Dolezal said. "I propose that somebody of integrity step up and address these concerns as a legitimate government should."
WPTV has reached out to the City of West Palm Beach for answers and is working to get a response.
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