Mayor Parker: Bike lane confusion leads to citations

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Confusion over dedicated bicycle lanes in downtown Houston resulted in 285 tickets, according to Mayor Annise Parker.

Parker recently took to Twitter, voicing frustration about the situation.

In April, Eyewitness News covered the ongoing problem. Cyclists claimed drivers used the bright green lanes as parking spots or even used them to circumvent traffic. The city installed the lanes on Lamar Street to connect cyclists between Discovery Green and Buffalo Bayou.

We stopped in with a cyclist advocacy group, Bike Houston, to get their reaction about the crackdown. Mary Blitzer with the organization stressed they do not want to see anyone ticketed but it's necessary to make sure people remain safe on the roads. She explained for every cyclist on the road, there is one less car adding to congestion.

"In Houston, the number of people dying on our roads ... car on car, car on bike, car and a person walking ... It's on par with our homicides, said Blitzer. "It's around 290 people are dying every year. That's someone dying every 2 to 3 days. We don't have to have that."