PPW Bike Lanes Still Controversial
Surprise! The Prospect Park bike lanes are still stirring up controversy. Today the Brooklyn Paper reports that this PPW Bike Lane Survey started by Council members Steve Levin and Brad Lander got 800 responses on its first day. While the city has been analyzing traffic speed and accidents after the lane was put in, it…
Surprise! The Prospect Park bike lanes are still stirring up controversy. Today the Brooklyn Paper reports that this PPW Bike Lane Survey started by Council members Steve Levin and Brad Lander got 800 responses on its first day. While the city has been analyzing traffic speed and accidents after the lane was put in, it wants community feedback before deciding whether or not to make the bike lane permanent. Questions deal with safety and design modifications. (One question asks if the bike lanes should be more compatible with the historic character of PPW.) In the meantime, rival bike lane protests are planned for this Thursday morning – supporters will be at GAP with protesters at PPW and Carroll Street. Uh oh!
Survey Says PPW Bike Lane Still Very Controversial [BK Paper]
You can now add adults on scooters to the waylay in Park Slope! Old people trying to be cool.
The PPW lane is an inevitability.
Before the PPW lane was put in, only 5th ave had a two-way, 24 hour bike lane. 6th ave, 7th ave, 8th ave, and PPW all lacked bike lines.
The park lane itself is severely limited: it’s one way, exits are far spaced, and it’s closed from 1am to 5am. The new lane on PPW has none of these problems.
6th ave has 2 way traffic, one lane each, as does 7th ave. 8th ave has two lanes going northbound. Only PPW had 3 lanes going southbound. Why was there an extra lane? If it was so precious, why didn’t 8th ave need three lanes going the opposite direction? 8th Ave and 7th ave are filled to the brim with schools, churches, and synagogues, but no one is freaking out about double parking there.
If the bike lane is not going to be on PPW, where else would it go? Should we make 8th ave only 1 lane, while PPW has 3? Should we put it on highly trafficked 7th ave? or 6th ave, only 1 block away from the existing lane on 5th ave?
Where is the great taxpayer expense? Painting these lanes cost almost nothing.
For those who say bikes should be licensed, this has been suggested time and time again in many communities, but is very rarely implemented. It costs more than the money it would bring in, it’s impossible to enforce, and meaningless to create a test easy enough for an 11 year old that is somehow going to make cyclists ride safer. Better to ticket them, and have massive ad campaigns shaming them into following the law. Start with ticketing the professionals: messengers and delivery people, who not only are most vulnerable to tickets, but are the most frequent offenders.
The reasons Bloomberg is backing this is the same reason every other mayor of a major city is backing bike lanes: they are good for public health, reduce obesity, reduce congestion, reduce pollution, reduce accidents, reduce traffic noise. Why would he not back them? To encourage more people to drive? Drivers, why would you want him to encourage more congestion and traffic jams?
Great that you like it. But if you want to keep it, you should show up at GAP 8AM Thurs and show it. Because, technically speaking, it is still temporary and I have it on good authority that the more regressive elements of Brooklyn society ARE pushing to have it removed as a failed experiment.
I used the new bike lane this past weekend. It was lovely. No mayhem, no blaring horns, no Mad Max road rage. The proliferation of bike lanes in this city is a little something I like to call “progress.”
“I think that YOU, lechacal, are the one who seems rather wild-eyed.”
No, YOU’RE the one who is wild eyed.
“It’s hardly a secret that Bloomberg bought himself and election and bribed the city council, in one way or another to do away with term limits that the city electorate had twice voted for.”
I suppose it’s hardly a secret that we faked the moon landing and the Mossad was behind the 9/11 attacks too?
“Actually, lechacal, you seem to be going ballistic over my comments.”
No YOU’RE going ballistic over MY comments.
“If you’re too much of a girl…..”
No YOU’RE too much of a girl.
[see how we’re doing this? I say A, you say A back to me rather than thinking before you write; we can do this all day I suppose, dipshit]
morralkan…what would you say to the under-10 set? go ride in traffic?
I think that YOU, lechacal, are the one who seems rather wild-eyed. It’s hardly a secret that Bloomberg bought himself and election and bribed the city council, in one way or another to do away with term limits that the city electorate had twice voted for. It’s hardly a secret that the DOE has been fudging school report cards, that the test results are entirely suspect, and that Bloomberg throws a hiss fit every time a reporter questions the DOE propaganda about schools (or questions Bloomberg in any way that our mayor finds disrespectful). Or that Sadik-Khan ignored any and all problems with the rerouting of buses after the Herald Square “cafe” was installed.
Actually, lechacal, you seem to be going ballistic over my comments. I’ve lived in Brooklyn most of my 62 years and managed to bike ride at least 50 of those years, many many times along PPW, inside the park, and pretty much everyplace else in the borough. Somehow, I managed to do it without the benefit of bike lanes and never had an accident with a pedestrian or with a vehicle. Still, what I see here is a definite disparagement and scorn of vehicular traffic and drivers. If you’re too much of a girl to be able to ride down streets without a bike lane to supposedly protect you, then walk your bike to the park and ride it there.
Well people who don’t like bike lanes are too busy working to attend a weekday rally at 8am to pay their car note 🙂
am sure your bike is all paid up!
-ok I’ll stop now!
gemini10: 5th ave bike lane is ok for me. I’ll even take up a traffic lane and ride 20+mph, it’s cyclist’s right in NYC and good enough for me. But what about kids aged 6 and 8? Do you want them riding in traffic? They’re not allowed to ride on the sidewalk.