Kent Avenue Bike Lane Issue Reaching Boiling Point
Emotions are running high in Williamsburg over the future of some recently installed bike lanes along Kent Avenue. Some residents claim that the lanes make it unreasonably difficult to do things like drop off their kids, while bike activists point to the safety and environmental benefits. Things came to a head at the CB1 meeting…
Emotions are running high in Williamsburg over the future of some recently installed bike lanes along Kent Avenue. Some residents claim that the lanes make it unreasonably difficult to do things like drop off their kids, while bike activists point to the safety and environmental benefits. Things came to a head at the CB1 meeting this week, reports Gothamist, after a pro-bike-lane board member was ousted by the chair of the executive committee. More.
We had this discussion once before I remember. I know cmu is very green thinking, but we need a huge dose of life in the city reality. Things are tough enough to get done and smeyer wrote clearly why. I think bikes are great, but they aren’t for everyone, too many bikers don’t follow the rules, and bike lanes aren’t well planned at this point.
I ride all over the city, and avoid bike lanes as much as possible, simply because they’re a great place to get doored when they’re not blocked by double-parked vehicles.
Bike lanes serve no purpose other than to infuriate non-cyclists. Bicycles are vehicles, and can and should use the same lanes as any other vehicle. The small number of bicyclists simply doesn’t warrant having exclusive use of that much street space.
you know either people are just ignorant or don’t want to listen. When you move from your building you moving van stops in front. It can’t in no stopping zones when its on BOTH sides of the street. I don’t believe its no stopping on both sides of the street on 8th avenue. trucks delivering are getting ticketed. You don’t want people dropping their child a coulpe of blocks away and walking them—they can’t find parking anyway and get ticketed(I have been ticketed like this-pleading not guilty doen’t help). The CITY picks up the kids on the school buses. They aren’t supposed to stop in no stopping zones although they CAN stop in the middle of the street and block traffic(you ever wonder why the do this people don’t obey the do not pass rule for school buses.) There is NO reason why both can’t be accommodated. There hasn’t been a bicycle lane there before. Some places don’t have sufficient mass transit…and its not about to be increased. I don’t care about the Hassid’s sensitivity to people who aren’t “properly” dressed but there are ligemiate concerns that weren’t thought thru when the bike lanes and no stopping signs suddenly appeared. I have abike lane on my block but it hasn’t caused parking problems and we live with it and the bikers in relative harmony(except that I sometimes am almost hit by bikers going through the lights and going the wrong way. I hit a biclist once because he was coming the wrong way and I was watching the pedestrians crossing and when I moved and checked he move so quickly into my side I couldn’t stop(he wasn’t hurt i wasn’t moving that quickly)….so its not just a one way street….
Who stops on Kent Ave to drop off their kids or unload cars? This makes no sense. The buildings going up most of them are not finished, and will have I assume parking. Bike people are kind of lame, but the argument for the cars, there is no reason to stop on Kent Ave, is even lamer.
Ok, can you legally stop on 8th Ave, that one-way car sewer, to drop off your kids or gramma? No. Do people do it all the time? Yes. Would I be terminally pissed off if I were driving/biking behind someone who does this? No. But then I don’t worry about breaking laws like this either, and I accept the consequences if caught.
So why is there not an outcry about too many “car lanes” on 8th?
dirty hipster….please don’t introduce race or religion into any of these discussions. christopher is a newbie and we don’t want to scare him away.
“hot hipster ass” is an oxymoron, both female and even more so, male!!!!
Wait a minute – didn’t the hasidics want this lane taken out because hot hipster ass was rollin thru?
quote:
Some residents claim that the lanes make it unreasonably difficult to do things like drop off their kids,
i think it’s gross when people think they have a right to defecate on the curbs 🙁
*rob*
afraid to touch the real issue here, BS? I don’t blame you. 🙂