Transportation
May 16, 2008
How Will the Great Slope Parking Experiment Play Out?
A headline in today's Times: "New Parking Rules Receive a Wary Welcome." A headline in today's Daily News: "Joy Spreads in Park Slope as Hated Alternate-Side Parking to be Halted." But what do you think?
Photo by charles.hope.
May 14, 2008
Park It, Slope: Alternate-Side Regs Tossed 'Indefintely'
It's good to be a Sloper. Especially, nowadays, one who owns a car. The Department of Transportation is suspending alternate side of the street parking in the neighborhood starting this Monday, according to a post on Gowanus Lounge. The suspension will be in effect "indefinitely" for the area from Pacific Street to 15th Street and from 4th Avenue to the park, or until the DOT changes the neighborhood's signs so they reflect new regulations that cut restricted parking periods down from three hours to 90 minutes. GL reports that similar suspensions are on tap for Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Red Hook. The big question right now, probably, is whether this is going to mean a very dirty summer for Park Slope curbs.
Alternate Side Parking Suspended in Park Slope [Gowanus Lounge]
Photo by redxdress.
May 8, 2008
Clinton Hill, Fort Greene Street Cleaning Days Reduced
The Department of Sanitation has agreed to reduce street cleaning days in Commuinty District 2, most notably Fort Greene and Clinton Hill. Other parts of the district, like Brooklyn Heights, already have street cleaning only once a week on each side. "As a general rule, the commercial streets will continue to have street cleaning six days a week and most of the residential streets will go down to once a week [on each side]," said District Manager Robert Perris. "We have brought this subject up a few times a year for the past several years and when [the Department of] Sanitation changed their operational schedule for CD6, we reiterated our prior requests, and have now received reduced frequency and reduced duration of street cleaning." Councilwoman Letitia James told us about the change earlier this week. Some residents in her district previously had to move their cars four times a week. Sanitation spokeswoman Kathy Dawkins said the department agreed to the change because the district achieved a 90 percent cleanliness score for several years in a row. Perris said the affected streets will be announced at the June 11 monthly board meeting, and changes would happen this fall.
May 6, 2008
Design Competition Trying to Hook Biking Visionaries
Last week the Forum for Urban Design announced details of a competition it's holding to solicit plans aimed at making Red Hook an extremely bicycle friendly neighborhood. The competition involves submitting design proposals to FUD that consider the possibility of building a bike garage in or near the Smith-9th Station; envisioning a bicycle network for Red Hook; and identifying possible funding sources for the project. Judges for the competition, which has a grand prize of $4,000, will include officials from NYC Transit and the DOT. One of the main points of the competition, whether or not it actually results in a design that's put into play, is to "introduce the concept of a bike garage to an audience in New York City," according to Lisa Chamberlain, executive director of FUD. "It’s a good place to try it on small scale. Another good place to have it would be in Downtown Brooklyn," near Borough Hall, though Chamberlain notes that "it would be much more complicated there than in Red Hook." Bike garages have been built in cities like Amsterdam, Berkeley and Seattle, and they deter theft and shield bicycles from the elements.
Could Red Hook Become a Biker Haven? [Brownstoner]
The Bicycle Master Plan Design Competition [FUD]
May 1, 2008
Greenway Plans Rolling Along; 5 miles Expected in 2 Years
Grand plans for Brooklyn Greenway, the waterfront pedestrian and bike path, are on the brink of moving forward, according to a story in this morning's Eagle. The Greenway currently spans 14 miles. Half a mile of the route planned for Columbia Street is slated to be complete by the end of the summer, and design work for the Williamsburg-Greenpoint segment is expected to begin soon. "The overall picture is that we’re moving into design,” says Milton Puryear, vice chairman and director of planning for the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative. “We’re hoping that we can get five miles constructed within the next two years. When you’re coordinating with multiple agencies, it can take years.” The entire project could cost around $50 million, and Rep. Nydia Velázquez, whose district includes most of the future Greenway, has raised $6.6 million in federal funding for the Red Hook, Navy Yard and Greenpoint sections and $8 million for the Sunset Park section.
Greenway Along Brooklyn Waterfront Begins To Take Shape [Eagle]
Photos from the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative.
April 28, 2008
DOT Plans Brooklyn Bridge Overhaul
Downtown Express reports that the Department of Transportation will spearhead a $300 million renovation of the Brooklyn Bridge. The work, which is scheduled to occur mostly on nights and weekends between 2009 and 2014, will involve widening ramps on both the Manhattan and Brooklyn sides of the landmark; restoring its arches, which have been badly weathered; and adding steel safety barriers to the bridge's roadways. The DOT also plans to paint the structure beige, its original color.
Brooklyn Bridge to Get a Little Coffee Color [Downtown Express]
Brooklyn Bridge to Get Structural, Cosmetic Makeover [Gothamist]
Photo by FocusBrooklyn.
April 22, 2008
Closing Bell: Forget the A-Team
Spotted at the Bedford Station: An invitation for "meet & greet" events with the "L line team." We might pay money to attend a meet and greet with the "G line team," if such an entity exists.
April 17, 2008
Closing Bell: The Brooklyn Bridge on Two Wheels
This video nicely captures a ride on the Brooklyn Bridge, though it doesn't really document the tension that often exists between cyclists and pedestrians.
Could Red Hook Become a Biker Haven?
The Post reports that the Manhattan-based Forum for Urban Design is sponsoring a competition for architects and developers to turn Red Hook into a bicyclist's paradise. The competition seeks to connect all of Red Hook to the Smith-9th train station via dedicated bike lanes. The DOT says it supports the idea, which is going to be discussed at a Community Board 6 meeting tonight. "The lanes will be more than painted street lines. We envision bike stations where you would lock up your bike, get a flat fixed, fill up your water bottle and even buy a Power Bar," says Lisa Chamberlain, executive director of the Forum for Urban Design.
Bicycle Built for Red Hook [NY Post]
Photo by kmhinkle.
April 11, 2008
CB1 OKs Brooklyn Greenway Bike Path
Streetsblog reports that Community Board 1 voted on Tuesday night overwhelmingly in favor of adding a separate bike path to Kent Avenue as part of the Brooklyn Greenway initiative. The new bike path will result in the loss of 500 parking spaces on the thoroughfare; the Greenway Initiative worked to defuse controversy about those lost spots by ID'ing side streets where on-site parking could be created. CB1 was the last community board that needed to vote on the Greenway, which is supposed to eventually run along the waterfront from Greenpoint to Red Hook. The Department of Transportation has secured $9 million in funding for the project and started working on some sections of it already, such as a stretch near the Navy Yard. Ride on!
Brooklyn CB1 Approves Bike Path in Place of Parking [Streetsblog]
Brooklyn Greenway Initiative [Official Site]
Image from Streetsblog.