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]
Rob — Have you ever been on a bike?
I ran into someone on the Brooklyn Bridge. I was *well* in the bike lane side and this guy walking 3-abreast with is friends… walking TOWARDS me… suddenly steps in front of me. (A similar thing would happen when you, Rob, step into the road without looking at an intersection instead of just standing on the sidewalk patiently.)
Luckily I wasn’t going very fast… but it still threw me off my saddle, onto the ground, knocked this douche bag down, and bent one of my spokes. Scraped and bruised. And this very dumb human being just looked at me stunned. I rode away pissed, but not broken.
well for what it’s worth the bike lanes in lower manhattan, specifically the soho area are heavily used by people on bikes.. but they dont seem that functional really and they are an eye sore. the area is too crowded with people and cars and deliveries to have a legit bike lane, but people still seem to use them. it’s not the bike messenger or the hardcore biker types who use them, it’s the ones on bikes out for what looks more like a leisurely ride in their overpriced neighborhood.
*rob*
The bike lanes are breeding like rabbits, how many bicyclists are there? The lanes seem empty, they aren’t utilized and an inconvenience. Are there any studies about use with accurate numbers not anecdotal opinions?
a lot of bikers drive like maniacs cuz they know if they get hit they are gonna get a huge payout from the city or someone’s insurance. if i got hit a car chances are they are gonna have to stop or else they will go to jail, if you get hit by a bike chances are they are they going to just flip you the bird and speed off and if you confront them they will most likely beat your over the head with a padlock or get into a hissy and throw their gay flip flops in your face.
*rob*
” but I know I am right about the need to get more bicycle riders knowledgeable and compliant with traffic regulations. I am willing to share the road. And I am also worried that some day, despite my vigilance, I am going to hit someone who is unprotected on a bike, doing something insane.”
You might find it hard to believe – but the vast majority of accidents involving bicycles and motor vehicles are not due to the cyclists doing something “insane” – but due to a driver simply not seeing them.
Regardless – I am perfectly aware of traffic rules and regulations – I have a NYS drivers license (as do most people I know who ride bikes in NYC) – Explain to me why drivers don’t seem to know what a left hand turn signal is when I’m on a bike? Education needs to start with those who drive cars!! Are there boneheads on bikes? Sure. Condemning all bike riders bc of those boneheads would be like me condemning you as a driver, on the basis of the way taxi cab drivers drive around.
I forgot the point I was trying to make 🙂
/rant
Donatella —
Then obviously all of the bike lanes and so on have NOTHING to do with you…. Don’t you think one day you might hit a baby in a baby carriage because there are thousands of idiots with stollers than can’t stay on the sidewalk until the like turns green? Honestly, I think if I drive in this city long enough I’ll end up killing a baby. Should we license stroller operators?
You were right about enforcement. But you are wrong about how to make the roads safer / better.
By dirty_hipster on May 18, 2010 2:28 PM
“Perhaps bike lanes wouldn’t be necessary if there was a little more of a “share the road” culture in this town.”
Tybur wins.
You know, DH, I am a pretty benign character on the road; I have had my moments, but I know I am right about the need to get more bicycle riders knowledgeable and compliant with traffic regulations. I am willing to share the road. And I am also worried that some day, despite my vigilance, I am going to hit someone who is unprotected on a bike, doing something insane.
i feel like for most people commuting to work by bike would just be totally gross, especially when it’s hot outside (and dont give me that bullcrap about the wind cooling you down in the hot weather when you are biking.) total BS. ive seen people (even very fit people) arrive at their jobs after biking even in the spring all sweaty and stuff. a friend of mine works at a place in midtown and has two guys who commute by bike and in the summer they arrive stinking really bad. it would be like the 1960s/1970s before they put air conditioning on the trains and there was supposedly a huge body odor epidemic in offices. gross!
that said, id like to see more people commute by bike cuz it really does mean less people on the trains.
*rob*
“Perhaps bike lanes wouldn’t be necessary if there was a little more of a “share the road” culture in this town.”
Tybur wins.