Truck Drivers Confusing New Cycle Track for Unloading Zone

12:05 PM EDT on October 9, 2007

With construction of the new Ninth Avenue separated bike path in Chelsea still underway it is way too early to draw any conclusions about the project. The new medians and planting beds haven't been built, the markings aren't done and DOT still needs to install new traffic signals. Once the Muni-Meters are turned on, every other block will be reserved for paid commercial parking -- deliveries only. Likewise, DOT says that it is working with the police department on ramping up enforcement but that hasn't started yet either.

In the meantime, Streetsblog is getting quite a few reports of cars and delivery trucks planting themselves in the cycle track like some sort of invasive species that has found a new niche to conquer. On Friday afternoon Streetsblog reader Mike Epstein took a stroll up the avenue and found that New York City's nascent cycle track is rapidly becoming Chelsea's most popular delivery truck unloading zone.

Given the NYPD's near total disinterest in enforcing traffic laws on behalf of cyclists and pedestrians, is it too soon for DOT to begin pricing out retractable bollards? I don't think so...

The good news: He's not double-parked.

This van would look really good impaled on a retractable bollard.

Plenty of space to park an 18-wheeler.

More good news: Lots of new bike parking too.

Photos: Mike Epstein and LFreedman500 on Flickr

Aaron Naparstek

AARON NAPARSTEK is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparsteks journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. Naparstek is the author of "Honku: The Zen Antidote for Road Rage" (Villard, 2003), a book of humorous haiku poetry inspired by the endless motorist sociopathy observed from his apartment window. Prior to launching Streetsblog, Naparstek worked as an interactive media producer, pioneering some of the Web's first music web sites, online communities, live webcasts and social networking services. Naparstek is currently in Cambridge with his wife and two young sons where he is enjoying a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Naparstek is a co-founder of the Park Slope Neighbors community group and the Grand Army Plaza Coalition. You can find more of his work here: http://www.naparstek.com.

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