Another Bike Lane Show-down
A proposed bike land installation is ruffling feathers again in North Brooklyn. As part of a $5.8 million renovation of the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, the city is planning to install two bike lines, each with a nine-foot buffer. The result: Two fewer lanes to accommodate the many trucks that use the Brooklyn-Queens connector on a…
A proposed bike land installation is ruffling feathers again in North Brooklyn. As part of a $5.8 million renovation of the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, the city is planning to install two bike lines, each with a nine-foot buffer. The result: Two fewer lanes to accommodate the many trucks that use the Brooklyn-Queens connector on a daily basis. The proposed change comes on the heels of a new bike lane installation on Greenpoint Avenue that local industrialists blame for big back-ups. “They’ve really made Greenpoint Avenue a mess,” said Paul Pullo of Metroenergy. The bike lobby insists more buffered lanes are necessary in the area: “Those narrow sidewalks [on Greenpoint Avenue] currently make it pretty hazardous for two cyclists, let alone two pedestrians, to comfortably pass one another,” said Wiley Norvell of Transportation Alternatives. “Separating bike and pedestrian traffic would do a lot to improve safety.” And so it goes.
It’s Trucks vs. Bikes on Greenpoint Avenue [Brooklyn Paper]
There simply isn’t enough good weather nor are there enough cyclists to justify this amount of sharing and spending.
Commuting by bicycle is an alternative available to some people some of the year not an option for all people all year round. Time was when riding your bike to work here took some sand. Bike messengers were begrudgingly respected for their ability to deal with midtown traffic.
Maybe it’s asking a bit much for the whole city to change its driving culture so that a small percentage of cyclists can feel safe when they ride to work.
On a related note, I have not enjoyed Janette Sadik-Khan’s re-arranging of midtown as if it were a sandlot for her experiments. The day that she goes will be a happy one indeed. Both she and the mayor have a complete lack of understanding of what living in NYC is like for the majority of its citizens.
“Truckers should stage a topless protest against the proposed bike lanes.”
haha – well played!!
hopefully you’ll join in – your car probably weighs as much as a truck! 😉
Truckers should stage a topless protest against the proposed bike lanes.
Rob – electric bikes have take over Chinatown and are becoming more popular. You can ride for miles at 20mph without breaking a sweat. Watch out for people going too fast on bikes without knowing what they are doing.
Also, to get a big settlement by a driver breaking the law and injuring a biker, that biker has to have major injuries (broken bones, head trauma, etc). You can’t just get bumped off your bike by a car and settle for millions.
In most cases, cars break the law, hit bikers, cause minor injuries and the biker is unable to sue for damages.
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btw – the bike lanes are an eyesore?!
this hideous greens in soho are, yes. honestly i dont know about any of the other bike lanes because i dont pay any attention to them when im crossing the street.
*rob*
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Rob — Have you ever been on a bike?
yeah when i was 10. haha jk, no, i have. i used to have a bike when i lived in chelsea a while back. i used to ride along the piers. (eeeks GOTD?). it was fun for leisure, but the thought of riding a bike on busy streets just sounds insane to me. im sorry but i dont feel like waking up in a hospital a vegetable.
*rob*
the brooklyn bridge is a nightmare!!
Oh, my point of the Brooklyn Bridge story was to point out that having a collision on a bike is not all gay flip flop happiness and sunshine. A pedestrian is basically a brick wall with squishy bits.
There is no one (OK maybe like 3 nutjobs) that rides around this city hoping to get hit or to run into someone… for an insurance pay out.
btw – the bike lanes are an eyesore?!