Prospect Park West Bike Lane Back in the News!
The inevitable backlash to last week’s report from the DOT that the Prospect Park West bike lane is a big success has finally arrived. That there video above from CBS2 shows Borough Prez Marty Markowitz disputing the DOT’s claims; Streetsblog fires back: “Marty seems to have either lost the ability to distinguish truth from fiction,…
The inevitable backlash to last week’s report from the DOT that the Prospect Park West bike lane is a big success has finally arrived. That there video above from CBS2 shows Borough Prez Marty Markowitz disputing the DOT’s claims; Streetsblog fires back: “Marty seems to have either lost the ability to distinguish truth from fiction, or his stubbornness is just all-consuming and he’s ceased to care about his public credibility.” Gothamist, meanwhile, has a quote from Markowitz in which the BP says that “we need an outside study—not one conducted by the DOT but perhaps by the NYPD—to get an impartial analysis of the Prospect Park West reconfiguration.” And, last but not least, the Brooklyn Paper is quick to print claims about how a conspiracy theory not imagined by Markowitz may be afoot: “One day after the Department of Transportation announced last week that the lane has improved safety for drivers and cyclists, two members of the city’s old guard — former Sanitation Commissioner Norman Steisel and former Transportation boss Iris Weinshall — struck back, claiming that the agency fudged numbers to make the lane appear more successful than it is.”
Markowitz on PPW Data: It’s a Vast Biking Conspiracy [Streetsblog]
Markowitz Says Activist Cyclists Distorted PPW Study [Gothamist]
Former Officials Slam City for Lying on Prospect Park West [BK Paper]
Oh yeah, and re “screw up PPW”: In what universe can you argue that PPW is now screwed up? Traffic moves smoothly, there’s a safe place to bike… sounds like a pretty much ideal street to me!
“PPW was hardly a speedway”
Ha ha ha. People drove like complete maniacs on that street.
“I’m not sure what you would consider a reasonable speed limit. Perhaps 10 or 15 mph?”
Straw man, anyone? I’d much rather have cars driving 25-30mph than 40mph in a dense residential area. Can you seriously argue the opposite?
“there are some of us around here who actually like to see beautiful things”
Five lanes of asphalt aren’t beautiful. Safety is beautiful.
those are some statistics southbrooklyn! Where did you get them?
PPW was hardly a speedway though some cars did indeed exceed then speed limit. They do everywhere unless it is so congested that they idle and spew out exhaust fumes. Nobody really wants that, right? I’m not sure what you would consider a reasonable speed limit. Perhaps 10 or 15 mph?
The bike lane is popular with some, less so with others, obviously, or there would be no discussion here. I do think the aesthetics of our borough are important and an important consideration. Perhaps they aren’t to Philistines, but there are some of us around here who actually like to see beautiful things. As I’ve said before, the park has several bike lanes, protected almost all hours of the day, and it’s exceedingly close by. There’s no reason to screw up PPW in order to provide biking/anti-car fanatics a way to impose their world vision on everyone else.
morralkan:
Prior to the redesign of PPW, it was a speedway, with 75% of drivers exceeding the (generous) NYC speed limit. With the redesign, injury causing crashes have gone down over 60%. No, at 40mph, the speed of the traffic was NOT reasonable. That’s why the road was redesigned. There was excess road capacity on that road, enticing drivers to go at high speeds, to weave in and out for advantage, etc.
The bike lane, which has turned out to be quite popular, was a side benefit of the decision to remove a lane of traffic from PPW, for safety reasons.
Before the redesign, between 7th ave and the Park, there were six lanes of parking, six sidewalks, and seven lanes of traffic. Now there are six lanes of parking, six lanes of parking, six lanes of traffic, and one bike lane. Why is this so objectionable to you???
But I guess you fine the “aesthetics” more important than neighborhood safety and the creation of a protected bike lane.
What I don’t understand, jan van flac, is why you can’t ride through the park when you are commuting also. The roadway is there and its use doesn’t interfere with vehicular traffic. If the weather is really bad, there are many fewer cyclists using the bikes to get around Brooklyn. Why would anyone, except out of necessity or fanaticism, choose to take his bike out on streets where icy spots are everywhere, risking his life and perhaps the lives of motorists and pedestrians? In any event, Jan, I am not anti-cycling since I also cycle a lot, though obviously not as much as you. There’s just no need to destroy the aesthetics of PPW for people to cycle. And I’m virtually certain that my intellect far exceeds yours. I’ll match my brain against yours anyday.
As for you, Zinka, I never claimed that PPW was only useful for commuting, though that is clearly what jan van flac advocates. Three lanes of traffic along PPW were hardly too many. As I pointed out before, I’ve cycled along PPW many times, at all times of day, and the speed of the traffic was mostly reasonable and I never ever felt unsafe riding along there. Mostly it was a very pleasant trip and drivers did not threaten me with their cars. You can’t be a very experienced cyclist if you found the old PPW “barely usable.” If you MUST travel in a northerly direction for local stops, what’s wrong with using the other, neighboring avenues? If families with kids want to ride slow and in a protected setting, that’s the one of the purposes of parks. One is right there, in case you have forgotten. The traffic doesn’t divide the neighborhood from the park; there are traffic lights and parents should probably teach their kids to obey them.
No one has ever said that bike paths are only useful for commuting to work. These, in particular, are great for trips within the neighborhood. You see a whole lot of kids and families in them — the old PPW was barely usable by experienced cyclists because of the high-speed traffic, and then only in one direction. The new PPW is a safe bike route for everyone.
We should not be settling for out-of-control drivers who kill and maim people in our neighborhoods because “this is New York City”. Streets with too many lanes for the amount of traffic inevitably lead to out-of-control speeding. This is not controversial. It’s just the way it is. 40mph traffic has no place dividing a dense residential neighborhood from Brooklyn’s greatest park.
Even if the space on the street that’s now the bike path were just closed off with cement barriers, this would still be a successful project because of how well it has reduced the previously out-of-control speeding on this street. Three lanes were just too many.
I DO ride inside Prospect Park….but only when I go there specifically to ride, as don’t live in the Slope.
You can’t tell me with a straight face that buses and the subway are an efficient way to get around Brooklyn. Maybe if you have hours to waste if the weather is really bad it’s ok. Otherwise biking or driving is a better bet. And if you are fit, you can commute to Manhattan in the same time, maybe faster, than you can taking the subway. And it’s free, if you already have a bike.
No you don’t “need” bike lanes to ride a bike. However, since the city started putting in bike lanes the number of bicycle commuters has doubled while the total number of deaths and injuries has remained the same. In other words cycling has become twice as safe (or half as dangerous). 97% of bike fatalities happen outside of bike lanes.
So in light of that, if you are still opposed to bike lanes (on aesthetic grounds) you are in favor of more cyclists being killed, or just anti-cycling, or maybe just not very bright.
Jan, cycling is a lifestyle. We have buses and trains, both rather energy efficient ways of moving people around in this city, so choosing to cycle, especially in extremely inclement weather is definitely a choice.
Cycling is mode of transportation I use very often, weather permitting and I agree it is environmentally sound and healthy. Not so much practical and efficient, though. And you can cycle without bike lanes. If you think I am incorrect about “not foisting their preferred lifestyle down the throats of everyone else,” why aren’t you riding your bike INSIDE Prospect Park? Plenty of room there.