At tonight's Community Board 12 Transportation Committee meeting, Inwood and Washington Heights Livable Streets will present suggestions for a traffic-calmed Bennett Avenue, and are expected to discuss the proposed Dyckman Greenway Connector with Paimaan Lodhi, urban planner with Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's office.
Bennett Avenue, which runs parallel to Broadway for roughly ten blocks from 184th 181st Street north to Hillside Avenue, is currently the subject of an online petition calling for a number of safety improvements, including improved visibility at intersections and slower speeds for both cars and bikes.
Tonight will mark the third time the Dyckman Greenway Connector has come before the committee. Advocates are hoping to get Mr. Lodhi interested in the plan to link the east- and west-side Greenways with a bike-ped friendly Dyckman, featuring a separated bike path.
Some members of CB12 have demonstrated a willingness to consider traffic-calming measures, though not at the expense of perceived motorist convenience or on-street parking. Petitions can be an important tool to gauge interest, but it will likely take warm bodies showing up at meetings to get the full committee, much less the full board, to come around. As always, Streetsbloggers who live in District 12 are encouraged to attend.
Tonight's meeting is at 7:00 at CB12 headquarters, 711 W. 168th Street, in Washington Heights.