Scoop: Some Richmond parking spots too narrow to avoid buffer fines
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More bike lane parking — in spaces that could be too small. Photo: Karri Peifer/Axios
Richmond will resume ticketing drivers Monday for parking fully or partially in bike-lane buffer zones.
Why it matters: Some of the city's parking lanes are too narrow for many popular car models to fit without encroaching on the buffer, per an Axios review of these lanes.
State of play: Parking width standards laid out in the city's Complete Streets policy guide set 8 feet as the "preferred parking lane" width for street parking and 7 feet as the minimum acceptable.
- Richmond adopted the guidelines more than a decade ago to serve as its design and policy framework for streets that "balance the needs of all transportation modes," including cars, bikes and buses.
Yes, but: In some parts of town, the parking lanes the city drew don't fit their own width standards.
- On the 3400 block of Semmes Avenue, a commercial strip Richmond redesigned in 2024, the street parking lanes in front of a half-dozen local businesses measure just over 6 feet wide — about 72-74 inches, per Axios' measurements.
- Over on the 4400 block of Patterson, a residential block in the Near West End, they're 6'8", per measurements 1st District Councilman Andrew Breton shared with Axios from residents there.
- Standard vehicle widths vary, but many mid-size or larger SUVs, and the 2025 Toyota Camry, couldn't fit in some of those spaces, per measurements from CarBuzz.com.
The intrigue: Both measurements were made from the edge of the white line forming the lane to the curb or other white line edge.
- But city engineers measure lane width from the center-of-line to center-of-line, a city spokesperson tells Axios, noting that as an old city, some lanes might be narrower than their standards.
Catch up quick: In April, the Richmond City Council voted to expand its bike lane no-parking rules to include the buffer zones next to them and started immediately enforcing the policy.
- The city paused enforcement a few weeks later after residents pushed back on the sudden change and lack of a warning period, saying ticketing would start again on June 1.
- The city didn't address concerns about too-narrow lanes at the time.
Now, the city is moving forward with its enforcement, which applies to vehicles that extend over the line and into the buffer, per the city. A bike lane buffer parking violation comes with a $65 fine.
- Drivers whose cars don't fit "should find an alternate parking location," per the city.
By the numbers: During the brief enforcement window, the city's parking vendors issued 196 citations for parking in the buffer zone.
- Most have been or are in the process of being refunded, per a city spokesperson.
What's next: The city plans to monitor the buffer enforcement over the coming months, per the spokesperson.