Riga Removes 40 Parking Spaces on Dzirnavu Street to Make Room for Bike Lanes

In Riga, Latvia's capital, 40 parking spaces have been removed from a section of Dzirnavu Street near building No. 157 to make way for cycling infrastructure. Riga city council told the news portal LA.LV that no compensating parking is currently planned nearby. The question was raised by a reader named Dzintars, who says it has become hard to find a legal place to park since the change.

The reader's complaint

Dzintars writes that he regularly uses and pays for Rīgas satiksme paid parking, but that after the former parking area was converted into cycling infrastructure, finding a legal space nearby has become considerably harder. In his view, it is unclear why this solution was chosen and how parking was meant to be organised afterwards. He says very little information about the project and its rationale is publicly available, and that the responsible institutions have not replied to his emails.

The city's explanation

The council says cycling infrastructure in Riga is being developed under a strategy approved in 2022. It envisages linking the Salu Bridge, which provides access to the districts on the left bank of the Daugava, with the cycling network in central Riga. The Dzirnavu Street lanes connect the Lāčplēša Street pedestrian and cyclist tunnel, the Salu Bridge, and existing cycling routes on Purvīša, Aleksandra Čaka, Krišjāņa Barona and Skolas streets.

According to the council, the street's width did not allow a compliant cycling lane while keeping two-way car traffic and the existing parking. It therefore chose a solution that retains traffic in both directions and provides a safe, continuous cycling link.

The council stresses that on-street parking spaces are not assigned to specific people or properties but are for shared use. Safe traffic organisation was the main consideration in the design. Street space in the city centre is limited, so it is not always possible to keep all parking and also introduce safe cycling solutions.