What is Up with Parking in the Bike Lanes in Santa Barbara County?

Yesterday, I was finishing off a painful ride in the Los Padres Forest returning to downtown Santa Barbara through a carefully studied route that had bike lanes.

Or at least that’s what Google Maps was telling me.

As I was gliding down La Cumbre Road, I came across this:

 

BikeLaneBlock01

 

First I thought, there’s construction going on. Maybe there’s a special exemption for this block, but then this:

 

BikeLaneBlock02

 

I was trying to get a clue from looking at the signage, but that made it more confusing.

Seeing a “No Stoping 2PM – 4PM” implies there is time for stopping.

 

This is not a one time thing.

Earlier this year, the CV Fam was in Solvang when we drove by this on the way to dinner:

 

BikeLaneBlock04

 

That was a WTF moment, but the following day when we drove by, there were cars parked again in the same bike lane:

 

BikeLaneBlock03

 

I’m not familiar with local laws, but how does Santa Barbara County get away with calling these bike lanes when all they provide are places to park?