After a delicious meal at Nam Phuong, we spotted a painting crew preparing for a hard day’s work on Tuesday at the northwest corner of 11th & Washington Ave in Bella Vista. Returning that evening for a second round of delicious Pho, we observed that new angled spaces were painted just outside of the The Lofts at Bella Vista. Previously, this side of the street had room for only four parallel parking spaces, and capacity has now doubled to eight. Checking back on Wednesday night (no Pho this time), we found new parking lines that extended several blocks north on 11th St., adding dozens of street parking spaces for Bella Vista residents.

As a side effect of the new angle parking spots, the existing bike lane on the southbound side of the street is no more. But worry not, Bella Vista! A freshly painted bike lane on the northbound side of 11th Street, stretching from Wharton Street to Bainbridge Street has been created. We spoke with Charles Carmalt, Pedestrian & Bicycle Coordinator in the Mayor’s Office of Transportation & Utilities, who told us that this particular bike lane has been in the works for FOUR years.  Charles also noted that the bike route along Washington Avenue (from 4th to Grays Ferry) will also be re-painted soon, and that they are still working on the new bike lanes on 10th and 13th Streets we previously reported on.

Even though the new bike lane is not fully completed (no symbols have been added yet), we spied quite a few bikers taking advantage of the 11th Street lane.