Driving is frustrating enough in Houston, but picture it on a bike: You’re pedaling down a busy street. It’s probably a hot day. You’re trying to follow all the safety guidelines while also trusting that drivers around you will respect your spot on the road. And let’s face it, that trust is often misplaced.

It’s a challenge Houston’s biker community faces every day. Our concrete jungle of a city has a lot of improving to do when it comes to walkability and bike-friendly infrastructure. But the discourse around it has created somewhat of a divide over the years.

“I think in Houston, there is a feeling that streets are for cars, and I can’t blame some people for feeling that way because just look around—look at how we’ve designed these streets,” says Joe Cutrufo, executive director of BikeHouston. “In many cases, the streets are designed in a way that it appears they are meant for only cars, and we follow the cues that infrastructure gives us.”

Through his work with BikeHouston, he hopes to help transform the city into a place where biking can be done safely. Cutrufo describes using a car or bike as a tool, and in life, we use the right tool for a job. If he’s only transporting himself a mile or two from where he lives, along with a few personal items, he doesn’t have a good motive to use his car. If he’s getting groceries and transporting his two children, that’s a different story.

“I think reasonable people can agree that having transportation choices adds to quality of life,” he says.

Yet it hasn’t always been that simple in this town. If you type “bike lanes Houston” into X, you’ll see heated debates on the topic between people who are for and against them—and every middle ground you can think of. Cutrufo believes the polarization comes from some people’s notion that Houston’s streets should be designed to make sure drivers don’t feel inconvenienced. And Cutrufo blames Mayor John Whitmire’s administration for causing an even bigger divide between bikers and drivers.

“By removing bike infrastructure, Mayor Whitmire has essentially politicized the act of riding a bike in Houston,” Cutrufo says. “I think he has validated the feelings of people who believe that bikes don’t belong in Houston.”

Since taking office in January 2024, Whitmire has gone on an infrastructure reversal spree, pausing or undoing bike and pedestrian projects that were mostly established during the previous administration. The most recent instance to cause a stir in the biker community is the reconstruction of Austin Street. The street had been included in the Houston Bike Plan, which was unanimously adopted by Houston City Council in 2017.

“Austin Street is arguably the spine of using the bike network [in Houston],” Cutrufo says. “It effectively connects Buffalo Bayou to Brays Bayou. The main user of Austin Street is not a recreational cyclist, it’s someone who is going to work.”

Prior to its redesign, months of community engagement took place to ensure that the changes to Austin Street would effectively serve its surrounding community. In the end, the city settled on creating a two-way bike lane with concrete dividers. But Cutrufo says all of this was ripped to shreds overnight.

BikeHouston began to suspect Austin Street might be under review by Whitmire after the organization filed a Texas Public Information Act request. The documents obtained showed an email exchange discussing removal of the bike lane between Houston Public Works and a contractor. In late March, construction crews got to work on removing the concrete dividers, which led to immediate outcry.

“The difference between how Austin Street was put in and how it was torn out is staggering,” Cutrufo says.

Whitmire originally intended to replace the protected lanes with “sharrows” or shared lane markings, but after the backlash he received, he made revisions. Under the new plan Austin Street will have a dedicated bike lane, in addition to street parking, similar to Heights Boulevard’s design.

“This is critical transportation infrastructure, and regardless of how [Whitmire] feels about people who get around on bikes, the mayor has an obligation to ensure that everyone can get around his city regardless of how they travel,” Cutrufo says.

Whitmire told Houston Public Media in an April Hello Houston interview that he is basing his decisions to remove bike lanes on listening to the community and their concerns. He noted that he is committed to bike mobility, but with a focus on connectivity of trails and recreation. He has also at times called officials from the administration before him “anti-car activists.”

Marlene Gafrick, Whitmire's advisor on infrastructure, says the mayor's responsibility is to think about the good for all Houstonians, not one group. The challenge the administration is facing, is how and where to responsibly provide for bikes without negatively impacting others, she says.

“We are trying to take a commonsense, data-driven approach on everything we do at the city,” Gafrick says. “The recent changes to Austin Street were intended to be responsive to the issues we heard from residents that live on the street, loss of parking and solid waste collection. In addition, a fire station lost a training area. Hearing the concerns of the biking community, changes were made to the revisions.”

Data from the Kinder Institute’s Election 2023: Priorities and Concerns of Houston Residents report, which surveyed over 2,000 Houstonians, shows that 38 percent wanted to add bike lanes on more streets, while 73 percent were hoping to see improved infrastructure. The latter was the second-highest priority for residents, tied with affordable housing.

The Austin Street drama isn’t Houston’s first rodeo with bike lane controversy. City councilmember Sallie Alcorn says she had seen an aggressive move toward building bike lanes since she worked as a staffer under former councilmember Stephen Costello about a decade ago. But now that’s changing.

“I think they’re just looking at where [the bike lanes] are and if it’s impacting mobility and all of that,” Alcorn says. “It did start a little bit of a culture war. I’ve said this in the horseshoe before—I think in every city there’s this kind of fight. No matter where you are—Paris, Boston, New York—there’s always kind of a fight when a bike lane comes and changes somebody’s traffic pattern. It’s hard.”

Arguments are also popping back up again for 11th Street’s redesign, which was done under former mayor Sylvester Turner. Prior to the redesign, Cutrufo says there weren’t many people biking along 11th Street, so the argument was “Oh, they took away a car lane and put in bike lanes, why would they do that?” But he notes that the idea for the project was to make a dangerous street safe for everyone.

A 2019 study showed that 11th Street between Shepherd Drive and Heights Boulevard, at the time a four-lane undivided roadway, had 10 percent more crashes than other similarly designed Texas roads. After a redesign completed in 2023, the street now has fewer lanes for cars but added bike lanes and other safety features like a central left-turn lane. According to a previous report by Houston Public Works, the project was effective in creating a safer street for all. The data shows slower traffic, along with fewer severe crashes.

“There are several studies now that show that when you make a street safe for walking and biking, you make it safe for driving, too,” Cutrufo says.

Despite the data, there are ongoing discussions among people who would like to see the street go back to what it was, mainly business owners who feel it contributes to more traffic.

Alcorn notes that at the horseshoe—the table where councilmembers and the mayor sit—city council hears both sides of the argument and takes all concerns seriously; she says some business owners have praised the redesign. Gafrick says some of the biggest concerns include service delivery issues for fire and solid waste collection, loss of street parking and general mobility, lack of maintenance of the bike lanes, and that the lanes were installed regardless of property owners’ positions. Cutrufo believes the group of people who'd like to see it go back to what it was, though, is the same as those previously against it.

Cutrufo says a lot of the divide can be fixed through education and advocacy. In his role at BikeHouston, he frequently goes to Austin to testify at committee hearings and often speaks at Houston City Council meetings and privately with councilmembers.

“You get the most bang for your buck by trying to educate people who actually have the power and the resources to build infrastructure and change policy,” Cutrufo says.

Alcorn is outspoken on her support for public transportation in Houston. At the end of each work week, you’ll find her doing “no-car Friday,” a tradition that came from one of her staffers back when she took office in 2020. On such days, you might see her riding her new electric bike or on a bus zooming around town.

“I think it’s great to get out of your car and see where you can get to in a different mode,” Alcorn says. “And it also taught me a lot about what people face, getting to bus stops, navigating bike lanes, and walking on broken sidewalks. It’s given me a great perspective on how to get around Houston without a car. And a lot of times it’s not very easy or friendly at all.”

With all the discourse, Alcorn says both sides should try to come together and compromise.

“Less yelling at each other, and more working together,” she says.