FLCC> A better bike lane?

[William Lodico]

On Sep 23, 2007, at 6:45 PM, Bob Stuart wrote:
> wow 10 feet wide plus eight more feet.
> i bet even lodico could fit thru that!
> csmcb


Maybe so, Cosmic, but not with as much room to spare as you might  
think.  Ten feet's not all that generous,  since it looks like it's  
going to have to handle bike traffic in two directions.  I still only  
get 5 feet.  I've still got to worry about traffic on my left -- from  
bikes instead of cars, admittedly; but coming at me instead of going  
with me, zipping right along at a good clip on the level.  At least  
it doesn't look like parked car door openings are going to be a problem.

If they actually build it, and they keep it clear and in good repair,  
and it actually goes somewhere and doesn't just dump out into the  
typical NYC bike lane threading its narrow way between a sea of taxi  
cabs and parked (and parking) cars, it might, just possibly, make the  
grade as a truly "usable" bike lane.  But why don't they just lock  
cars out of Manhattan?

Still, just when I'm ready to condemn Mayor B for his money talks  
approach to traffic congestion (Why should rich guys be able to buy  
their way into driving in Manhattan?  Is the exhaust from their  
engines, the noise and dirt from their cars, sweeter and less  
offensive than from those driven by us proles?  And what's this I'm  
hearing about turning Yankee Stadium into a parking lot, and a nearby  
park into a baseball stadium, and swamping the Bronx with cars on  
game days?) I guess I'll bite my tongue, at least for a while yet.   
He did do quite a lot to help knock out smoking as a legitimate  
public pastime.

Bill L





> Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2007 08:01:41 -0400
> From: "Amanda and Mark Shenstone" <gardens at lightlink.com>
> Subject: FLCC> A better bike lane?
> To: <flcc at icycle.org>
> Message-ID: <001301c7fdd9$879ccfc0$0301a8c0 at GracefulGardens>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> 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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