FLCC> A better bike lane?

[Amanda and Mark Shenstone]

Just when you thought you said all there could be 
said about bike lanes, here's this about new bike 
lanes in NYC (from today's NY Times)
A Busy City Street Makes Room for Bikes
By WILLIAM NEUMAN
Published: September 23, 2007
Cyclists and pedestrians never quite imagined it 
this way, but maybe there is a use for all those 
cars after all.


Reconfiguring Ninth Avenue
The city is planning to remake seven blocks of 
Ninth Avenue in Chelsea into what officials are 
billing enthusiastically, perhaps a bit 
hyperbolically, as the street of the future.

The most unusual aspect of the design, which will 
run from 16th Street to 23rd Street, is that it 
uses a lane of parked cars to protect cyclists 
from other traffic.

It does this by placing the bike lane directly 
next to the sidewalk on the western edge of Ninth 
Avenue, which is the left side of the street for 
those facing north, in the direction of traffic. 
The plan also takes a lane from cars, creating 
more room for pedestrians and for the bicycle 
lane.

"I think it's a sneak peek at the future streets 
of New York," said Janette Sadik-Khan, the city's 
transportation commissioner. "It represents the 
kinds of innovative ideas that we can explore to 
make the streets more livable."

Next to the bike lane, which will be 10 feet wide, 
will be an eight-foot section of pavement that 
will act as a buffer, with plastic posts and large 
planters to keep cars from entering. The parking 
lane will be to the right of the buffer zone, and 
beyond that will be three lanes for traffic.

The result will be a barrier of parked cars 
between cyclists and moving vehicles.

"For cyclists, you've got a physically separate 
lane that prevents motorists from coming in," Ms. 
Sadik-Khan said.

It is a design that has been used in cities in 
Europe but never in New York City.

Another feature will make life easier for people 
on foot. At each intersection, a raised island 
will extend into the avenue. Called a "pedestrian 
refuge," it has the effect of shortening the 
distance traveled to cross the street to 45 feet, 
from 70 feet.

Ms. Sadik-Khan said that work would begin shortly 
and that the remade street would be completed by 
next month.

As part of the plan, single-space parking meters 
will be replaced by Muni-Meters, which control 
many spaces, and the cost of parking will increase 
to $2 an hour from $1.50.

Ms. Sadik-Khan said the makeover of the avenue was 
possible because traffic volume in the area was 
low enough that cars could move as smoothly in 
three lanes as in four.

It is not difficult to see how that rationale 
could dovetail with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's 
proposal for congestion pricing, which would 
charge drivers a fee to use the streets of 
Manhattan below 86th Street. The fee is supposed 
to reduce the volume of traffic, which could 
theoretically free up street space for other uses.

Noah S. Budnick, the deputy director of 
Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group 
that works to improve conditions for cyclists and 
pedestrians, said he thought a protected bike lane 
would encourage more New Yorkers to get on bikes.

"If you talk to the average New Yorker, they'd 
ride a bike, but most people say the traffic is 
too scary," Mr. Budnick said. He pointed to the 
example of a popular bike path in Hudson River 
Park.

"If you provide protected space for riding bikes, 
New Yorkers are going to use it in droves," he 
said.

Mr. Budnick was asked if the idea of parked cars 
protecting cyclists changed his view of the 
oversized S.U.V.'s that are often the bugaboo of 
bikers and environmentalists. After all, the 
bigger the car, the better the barrier.

"As long as they're not moving," he said.


--------------------------------------------------
Amanda and Mark Shenstone
Graceful Gardens
PO Box 100
Mecklenburg, NY 14886
607.387.5529
http://www.gracefulgardens.com
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