'After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes'
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
'After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes'
'this year after 25 cyclists were killed on city streets -- the highest toll in two decades.'
'Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council have agreed on a $1.7 billion plan that would sharply expand the number of protected bike lanes '
If you can't read it, try right-clicking on the URI, saving the file, reading that copy: that works for me; I have no subscription
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 5,992
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2495 Post(s)
Liked 738 Times
in
522 Posts
If you can't be bothered to make some personal observation about the story why should you expect anyone else to be bothered enough to jump through logistical hoops to do so? I haven't lived in NYC in about 10 years. At that time it was possible to commute with some dispatch from outer bourghs into the City Center. I don't hold out much hope for new protected bike infrastructure to be intelligently deployed. It's been tried before. And the lanes had to be destroyed after they proved to be an absolute disaster for all concerned. NYC is an old city. Built when automobiles were not yet a thing. It really is time for the City to just say no to non-essential vehicle traffic during dawn to dusk operations. That may not work in other cities, even smaller ones than NYC but such a plane could work there.
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 4,530
Mentioned: 34 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2112 Post(s)
Liked 663 Times
in
443 Posts
So, if you do the math, less than 6 years. However, the detailed plan is due December 2021 weeks before de Blasio leaves office. (BTW, back in May the due date was October 1, 2019. So there has already been a two year slip just to get the damn bill signed.) So it will be on the next Their Honor to fulfill this "vision."
Kick the can. Safety delayed is safety denied.
-mr. bill
Last edited by mr_bill; 10-29-19 at 10:43 AM.
#5
Non omnino gravis
I wonder how many committees it will have to go through before the first shovel touches the ground. We had a dedicated bike route approved locally, to connect the one of the High Schools (about four miles away) to the nearby complex of elementary/middle schools.
The plan was approved, federal and matching funds were locked in, the design work was completed... and it has been in committee since February of 2017.
For point of clarity, this is the street the bike route is supposed to supplement:
Several cyclists and pedestrians have been killed on this road in past years-- I mean, look at those ample shoulders. But it doesn't matter. Things will move at the speed of bureaucracy, no matter how many deaths occur.
The plan was approved, federal and matching funds were locked in, the design work was completed... and it has been in committee since February of 2017.
For point of clarity, this is the street the bike route is supposed to supplement:
Several cyclists and pedestrians have been killed on this road in past years-- I mean, look at those ample shoulders. But it doesn't matter. Things will move at the speed of bureaucracy, no matter how many deaths occur.
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 5,992
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2495 Post(s)
Liked 738 Times
in
522 Posts
You see ample shoulders there? I don't. And with only one lane in each direction there is no easy way to construct the bike lane without totally shutting down travel in one direction or the other. And unless I way miss my guess the percent of bike traffic to vehicle traffic is likely less than 98%/2%. No, I don't see this project being fast-tracked to completion.
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 5,992
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2495 Post(s)
Liked 738 Times
in
522 Posts
In fact, there has been ONE protected bike lane removed - Dyckman St. It's scheduled to be reinstalled, but hasn't been, and this is De Blasio we are talking about, who gets spooked by absolutely frivolous lawsuits, prisons, and whenever one member of a community board says boo.
#8
Non omnino gravis
You see ample shoulders there? I don't. And with only one lane in each direction there is no easy way to construct the bike lane without totally shutting down travel in one direction or the other. And unless I way miss my guess the percent of bike traffic to vehicle traffic is likely less than 98%/2%. No, I don't see this project being fast-tracked to completion.
But absolutely, because fewer bikes than cars cover that roadway, do nothing. That's how it's be done so far.
On the Strava Heatmap, the lighter color, or "hotter," the more traveled by bike.
We all ride that road because we have no other options. But bicycles are not and will not ever be a priority.
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 4,530
Mentioned: 34 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2112 Post(s)
Liked 663 Times
in
443 Posts
While on the subject of back in my day we didn't need no stinkin' bike lanes....
-mr. bill
Last edited by mr_bill; 10-29-19 at 10:11 AM.
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Eugene, Oregon, USA
Posts: 27,547
Mentioned: 217 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18377 Post(s)
Liked 4,512 Times
in
3,354 Posts
I wonder how many committees it will have to go through before the first shovel touches the ground. We had a dedicated bike route approved locally, to connect the one of the High Schools (about four miles away) to the nearby complex of elementary/middle schools.
The plan was approved, federal and matching funds were locked in, the design work was completed... and it has been in committee since February of 2017.
For point of clarity, this is the street the bike route is supposed to supplement:
Several cyclists and pedestrians have been killed on this road in past years-- I mean, look at those ample shoulders. But it doesn't matter. Things will move at the speed of bureaucracy, no matter how many deaths occur.
The plan was approved, federal and matching funds were locked in, the design work was completed... and it has been in committee since February of 2017.
For point of clarity, this is the street the bike route is supposed to supplement:
Several cyclists and pedestrians have been killed on this road in past years-- I mean, look at those ample shoulders. But it doesn't matter. Things will move at the speed of bureaucracy, no matter how many deaths occur.
#11
Non omnino gravis
It's the kangaroo rats! Any construction that is attempted within a few miles of the Santa Ana River Basin, they have to do a long and drawn out environmental study to see if it will impact the San Bernardino Kangaroo Rat.
People can get run over and the roads can disintegrate, but we got to save the rats. Note: not shown in photo, but for about a mile in each direction to the left and right of the road, vast sand and gravel pits. House-sized dumptrucks all day long.
People can get run over and the roads can disintegrate, but we got to save the rats. Note: not shown in photo, but for about a mile in each direction to the left and right of the road, vast sand and gravel pits. House-sized dumptrucks all day long.
#13
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 4,530
Mentioned: 34 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2112 Post(s)
Liked 663 Times
in
443 Posts
Spin failure.
Back in 2014 Hizoner published a “VISION ZERO action plan.” Really was “Vision ZERO ACTION plan.”
In other words, safety delayed is safety denied.
-mr. bill
Back in 2014 Hizoner published a “VISION ZERO action plan.” Really was “Vision ZERO ACTION plan.”
In other words, safety delayed is safety denied.
-mr. bill
Last edited by mr_bill; 10-30-19 at 07:11 PM.
#14
Tragically Ignorant
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: New England
Posts: 15,613
Bikes: Serotta Atlanta; 1994 Specialized Allez Pro; Giant OCR A1; SOMA Double Cross Disc; 2022 Allez Elite mit der SRAM
Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8186 Post(s)
Liked 9,098 Times
in
5,054 Posts
Spin failure.
Back in 2014 Hizoner published a “VISION ZERO action plan.” Really was “Vision ZERO ACTION plan.”
In other words, safety delayed is safety denied.
-mr. bill
Back in 2014 Hizoner published a “VISION ZERO action plan.” Really was “Vision ZERO ACTION plan.”
In other words, safety delayed is safety denied.
-mr. bill
De Blasio really is the master at making absolutely no one happy--he's just delaying the inevitable not in my parking space backlash for the next guy at the cost of lives lost during the delay.
#15
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Layton, UT
Posts: 1,606
Bikes: 2011 Bent TW Elegance 2014 Carbon Strada Velomobile
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 626 Post(s)
Liked 701 Times
in
418 Posts
It's the kangaroo rats! Any construction that is attempted within a few miles of the Santa Ana River Basin, they have to do a long and drawn out environmental study to see if it will impact the San Bernardino Kangaroo Rat.
People can get run over and the roads can disintegrate, but we got to save the rats. Note: not shown in photo, but for about a mile in each direction to the left and right of the road, vast sand and gravel pits. House-sized dumptrucks all day long.
People can get run over and the roads can disintegrate, but we got to save the rats. Note: not shown in photo, but for about a mile in each direction to the left and right of the road, vast sand and gravel pits. House-sized dumptrucks all day long.
#16
Senior Member
Dedicated bicycle routes, almost by definition, remove bicycles from the rest of society. If you want to get somewhere, work, grocery store, dry cleaner. etc. you have to come back into contact with the rest of the world. Dedicated routes also run the risk of engendering resentment among motorists and other non-bicyclists. That being said, some places are inappropriate for bicycles, like bridges without walkways.
#17
Tragically Ignorant
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: New England
Posts: 15,613
Bikes: Serotta Atlanta; 1994 Specialized Allez Pro; Giant OCR A1; SOMA Double Cross Disc; 2022 Allez Elite mit der SRAM
Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8186 Post(s)
Liked 9,098 Times
in
5,054 Posts
Dedicated bicycle routes, almost by definition, remove bicycles from the rest of society. If you want to get somewhere, work, grocery store, dry cleaner. etc. you have to come back into contact with the rest of the world. Dedicated routes also run the risk of engendering resentment among motorists and other non-bicyclists. That being said, some places are inappropriate for bicycles, like bridges without walkways.
There are bridges where bikes are expected to ride on the walkway. In my experience, there's always a sign to the effect.
I do remember getting confused by a sign that said something like "Bikes Must be Walked on Walkway", and decided that was not a prohibition of riding in the roadway as riding in the road is legal unless the road is labeled as restricted.
#18
Senior Member
A lot of bridges are narrower than the roads they serve, and lack any kind of shoulder. Coupled with a nice stiff uphill one really hopes for courteous motorists, and no oncoming traffic
#19
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 4,624
Bikes: iele Latina, Miele Suprema, Miele Uno LS, Miele Miele Beta, MMTB, Bianchi Model Unknown, Fiori Venezia, Fiori Napoli, VeloSport Adamas AX
Mentioned: 16 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1324 Post(s)
Liked 927 Times
in
640 Posts
I'm not a fan of bicycle lanes in general. Where I am there are only painted on the road bike lanes and no segregated protected bike lanes. The problem I see with bike lanes and especially with so-called protected bike lanes is that they eventually end and usually end before you get to your destination. Also they take you out of the drivers' fields of vision and thus they aren't looking for you at intersections which include driveways and entrances/exists to/from plazas and/or malls. But worse yet is that they prevent bicyclists from learning how to deal and ride with motor vehicle traffic. In short, in my honest opinion, segregated/protected bicycle lanes give bicyclists a FALSE sense of safety.
YMMV
Cheers
YMMV
Cheers
#20
Tragically Ignorant
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: New England
Posts: 15,613
Bikes: Serotta Atlanta; 1994 Specialized Allez Pro; Giant OCR A1; SOMA Double Cross Disc; 2022 Allez Elite mit der SRAM
Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8186 Post(s)
Liked 9,098 Times
in
5,054 Posts
If you ride in a city, almost all the roads you ride on have no shoulder. To me, riding on narrow roads is just part of the routine business of biking. I think you just stated a personal aversion as if it were a general rule--you don't like riding on bridges without walkways, but there's nothing inherently inappropriate about it.
#21
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 4,530
Mentioned: 34 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2112 Post(s)
Liked 663 Times
in
443 Posts
2019 Was An Extremely Deadly Year For NYC Cyclists. Here Are Their Stories
Say their names. Tell their stories. Call out inaction.
-mr. bill
Say their names. Tell their stories. Call out inaction.
-mr. bill
#22
LBKA (formerly punkncat)
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Jawja
Posts: 4,299
Bikes: Spec Roubaix SL4, GT Traffic 1.0
Mentioned: 17 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2208 Post(s)
Liked 960 Times
in
686 Posts
Just read an article a couple of days ago that reflected as of the 2018 information that Atlanta, GA saw over a 30% increase in both pedestrian and cycling deaths. My personal thoughts aren't so much that drivers are more careless than in the year before, but that there are a great deal more cyclists.
#23
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Stillwater, OK
Posts: 7,828
Mentioned: 33 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1872 Post(s)
Liked 692 Times
in
468 Posts
I'm surprised the cyclists didn't get charged for their own deaths.
__________________
2014 Cannondale SuperSix EVO 2
2019 Salsa Warbird
2014 Cannondale SuperSix EVO 2
2019 Salsa Warbird