The problem being the back of this guy’s truck, or any of the other illegally parked vehicles you would slam into if you actually followed this bike lane next to Harvard Stadium.

As of July 29, parking in a bike lane in Boston gets you a $100 fine, although it seems most drivers and traffic wardens are still unaware of the new law.

As many have noted, education seems to be one of the key components that Boston is lacking to make its new biking push a success.

At the least, the city should have an interest in scooping up the revenue from those tickets — imagine if fees from bike lane violations went into a fund for more cycling paths? [Livejournal via Boston Biker]

EDIT: I kind of can’t believe this, but there’s an entire Web site devoted to pictures of cars parked illegally in bike lanes with dozens of examples from Boston.

In other bike lane happenings, the South End News reports that Columbus Avenue will be getting new paths by the end of August on a stretch between Melnea Cass Boulevard and Dartmouth Street, though some cyclists are worried that the paths will be too narrow leading up to Mass. Ave.

The city floated plans to lay down a new path on Harvard Avenue between Cambridge Street and the Brookline border, but the project has been scrapped for now, according to Harry Mattison at the Allston-Brighton Blog.

Other projects that are slated for 2009 include 2.2 miles of dedicated and shared lanes on the American Legion Highway, another mile of bike lanes down Commonwealth Avenue and a mile of lanes on Dartmouth Street.

Nicole Freedman, Boston bike czar, says the overall plan is to link the Southwest Corridor, Emerald Necklace, the Esplanade and the future South Bay Harbor Trail via bike lanes.

More information about the city’s bicycle plans for 2009 is available in the 2008 summary.