The lines are clear, the markings evident, but the municipality says people still aren't getting the message: you can't park in a bike lane.

Next week, “no parking” signs will be erected along the new bike lane on Hollis Street. In less than two weeks the municipality has handed out 240 tickets.

“If we assume that you should know, we don't put ‘no parking’ signs in front of a fire hydrant cause people know, they don't park in front of a fire hydrant. We thought the same thing would take place here,” said Brendan Elliot, a spokesperson for the municipality.

The Halifax Cycling Coalition says perhaps the signs should have been erected when the bike lane went in.

“I think it's a really good measure,” said Eric Jonsson of the Halifax Cycling Coalition. “We don't want to see a lot of people getting tickets. We don't want to see people getting towed.”

The Hollis Street bike lane is part of street network changes that reorganized one-way and two-way streets downtown. In 2011, 110 parking spaces were added to offset the parking removed when the Hollis Street bike lane was put in place.

“This is just one part, in fact the final phase of several pieces we were doing, to try and make the downtown more bike-friendly,” Elliot said.

While it applauds the new signage, the cycling coalition also wants the municipality to install a safety barrier.

“Studies have shown that painted lines on the street don't have the same kind of psychological affects for people riding bikes. So people who ride bikes feel so much safer when there's something separating them from the traffic going by,” said Jonsson.

The cycling coalition says protective posts can be installed along the bike lane for $15,000. 

“We're open to change, but at this point in time we feel that what we're doing right now is enough,” Elliot said.

The municipality says it's not out of the question, but it wants to monitor the situation for a while first.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell