FLCC> A better bike lane?

[Rick Manning]

Interesting.  I just rode on many similar lanes in Copenhagen.  I have lots
of photos of this configuration  Planters were also placed in this parking
lane to separate blocks of parallel parking spaces, and to reinforce the
separation from the travel lanes.  Of course you still have to watch for
doors opening on passenger side. 

 

  _____  

From: flcc-bounces at icycle.org [mailto:flcc-bounces at icycle.org] On Behalf Of
Amanda and Mark Shenstone
Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2007 8:02 AM
To: flcc at icycle.org
Subject: FLCC> A better bike lane?

 

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
<http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=WILLIAM%20NEUMAN&fdq=199
60101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=WILLIAM%20NEUMAN&inline=nyt-per> 

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. 

 
<javascript:pop_me_up2('http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/09/22/nyregio
n/22streetfurniture.web.html',%20'703_661',%20'width=703,height=661,location
=no,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes')> Reconfiguring Ninth Avenue


Reconfiguring
<javascript:pop_me_up2('http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/09/22/nyregio
n/22streetfurniture.web.html',%20'703_661',%20'width=703,height=661,location
=no,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes')>  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
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/michael_r_bloo
mberg/index.html?inline=nyt-per> '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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