New Bike Lanes on Smith and Hoyt
Good news for BoCoCa bikers, as this spring will bring extended bike lanes to and from the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. Bicycle lanes on Smith and Hoyt street will be added, with the Smith street lane going from Bergen to 9th Street, and the Hoyt Street lane going from Bergen to 3rd Street. Nine parking…
Good news for BoCoCa bikers, as this spring will bring extended bike lanes to and from the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. Bicycle lanes on Smith and Hoyt street will be added, with the Smith street lane going from Bergen to 9th Street, and the Hoyt Street lane going from Bergen to 3rd Street. Nine parking spots will be lost on Hoyt between Bergen and Wyckoff. Worth the trade?
Smith and Hoyt Streets Bicycle Lane Extensions [New York City DOT]
quote:
There are sooooo many things that have long-term payoff, but cause immediate or even short-term discomfort… unfortunately we are painfully myopic and self-involved. Can’t see the forest for the trees and all that.
well, to be fair, some of us have no children and plan on never having children and have zero investment in or care about the city for generations to come. we are a small minority, but we do exist.
::sprays aerosol wildly!::
*rob*
This whole bikers v. drivers thing is a bit tired and contrived. Chill, children.
As to this specific issue: Hoyt is NOT a busy street, so seems you can already ride there fairly safely w/o a lane. And the peak bike commuting hours are precisely the time when Smith is a congested mess of double-parked delivery trucks who will surely ignore the lane. Not that I’m against it, but will these new bike lanes really even accomplish anything??
I have a car (i.e., not non-autoed) and I strongly believe there should be standard bike lanes on almost every street and protected (separated) bike lanes for major commuting routes. Guess what, sometimes I use my bicycle not because I want to… but because it’s the BEST MODE OF TRANSPORT. And this should be promoted.
This isn’t a class issue. It’s a what’s best for a crowded city bursting at the seems issue.
I also think there should be streetcars for both transportation and economic development reasons (permanency and visibility compared to buses). I think the city government should start looking at the long-term and break free from the Manhattan-centric attitude. Making everything point to one compact area is the easy solution, but it’s not the long-term solution for a diverse and successful city.
There are sooooo many things that have long-term payoff, but cause immediate or even short-term discomfort… unfortunately we are painfully myopic and self-involved. Can’t see the forest for the trees and all that.
Holy moly. I drive down Hoyt to 3rd all the time. There is NOT room for a bike lane. In fact I frequently get stuck behind bikers meandering their way down Hoyt because there is nowhere for them to move to the side – no width beyond car width.
Sigh.
CG_ups — Why don’t they just close down Clinton for bikes only? Umm… perhaps because the folks in their cars don’t want to drive 2 blocks away… they want to drive on Clinton because that’s where they want to be. Similarly, if i want to go to Kiku or Bird or whatever other BS there is on Smith Street, I’m not gonna be too psyched about riding up Clinton.
Secondly, Court Street goes south. Smith Street goes north.
There’s a bike lane on 5th Ave — why isn’t that enough?
“Am I sensing a little class-resentment from the non-autoed?”
Probably – but that’s just you being a snob again.
Am I sensing a little class-resentment from the non-autoed?
there are dedicated bike lanes literally the adjoining two blocks west on Court and Clinton. Both (esp Clinton) are pretty good. Even with a bike lane, I don’t think that I’d want to bike on the sh*tshow that is Smith Street. It’s really narrow and too many double parkers. Hoyt is usually pretty quiet, so not sure why people can’t just bike in the road there.
By dirty_hipster on April 6, 2010 1:15 PM
“If you’re in a car and you almost hit ANYTHING you’re either
A) driving too fast
B) not paying attention
C) A and B”
Right. Because children and pets never, ever dart out between parked cars in the middle of a block.