Possible Perils of the Sands Street Bike Path
The Sands Street bike bath, the slick new route for bicyclists entering or exiting the Manhattan Bridge, only opened this summer, and already there are problems. Last week, Gothamist rreported that the raised portion of the bike bath between Navy and Gold has proven to be irresistible to illegal parkers; in addition, Transportation Alternatives notes…
The Sands Street bike bath, the slick new route for bicyclists entering or exiting the Manhattan Bridge, only opened this summer, and already there are problems. Last week, Gothamist rreported that the raised portion of the bike bath between Navy and Gold has proven to be irresistible to illegal parkers; in addition, Transportation Alternatives notes bicyclists often make dangerous diagonal crossings when dealing with the double crosswalks at Sands and Jay where the bridge path lets out. The project isn’t complete yet, and the DOT told Streetsblog that they are working on both of these issues. GMAP
Double Parkers Gravitate into Sands Street Bike Path [Streetsblog]
New Sands Street Bike Lane Perfect for Cable Guy Parking! [Gothamist]
Photo by Gothamist
If you are going to put a bike lane there, then you cannot allow parking in the right lane. At least one lane needs to be for loading/unloading and commercial vehicles.
It would help if planners would take a holistic approach to transportation needs rather than just shoving bike lanes where ever it looks like they can squeeze them in and hoping for the best.
Seems to me that we are in a transitionary time vis a vis biking in NYC. Enough bike lanes and riders to make biking far more of an issue to traditional transit, but not enough to result in a shift of mindset of both bikers and non-bikers to taking their rights and responsibilities seriously. Seems to me they are going to have to put in metal (or plastic) columns to protect the bike lane there. And maybe get rid of the street parking.
hey jagoffs bedstuy11216 and minard, how many bikers have killed drivers? thats what i thought. stfu.
Randi-
That’s funny, that’s exactly what I think of most bikers. “selfish and dangerous”
The city should provide every cyclist with a taser to zap lesser, un-evolved mortals who do not have the comfort and happiness of bicylce riders foremost on their minds every waking moment.
bullsh•t. look in the picture- there is an identical truck parked in what appears to be a legal space across the street. you can’t blame people’s laziness on the bike lane. the bottom line is that new york city drivers are selfish and dangerous and really don’t think of the fact that messing with bikers only results in one thing- killing someone.
The raised bike lane is stupid and dangerous. It has signifcantly narrowed a road that feeds both the brooklyn bridge and the BQE. This is a major traffic thourogh fare that now feels like an obstacle course of parked cars, trucks, cars, emergency vehicles and now a raised platform that just squeezes it all together.
Yeah – this isn’t cool. The bike line is great, but traffic goes way too fast for a cyclist to be able to swerve around a parked car and not get smacked by a vehicle.
unfortunately there doesnt look like there is anywhere else to unload what the people in that van are trying to unload, so unfortunately it just comes with the territory. people need to just be happy there ARE bike lines available, unfortunately, they cant be perfect in a city this dense. people just have to deal sometimes.
*rob*