Dispute Over Kent Avenue Bike Lanes Keeps Rolling
The reinstalled detour sign on Kent Avenue. Photo via Gothamist.The controversy over the new bike lanes on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg (which recently resulted in the ouster of livable streets activist Teresa Toro as chair of the CB1 transportation committee) was chronicled in the New York Times over the weekend:
New York City has created more than 100 miles of bicycle lanes in recent years to encourage and accommodate the number of people who, compelled by a desire to preserve the environment or preserve their bank accounts, have taken to getting around on two wheels.
But the effort to turn the city into a place that embraces bicyclists has clashed with a long-entrenched reality — New York is a crowded, congested urban landscape where every patch of asphalt is coveted.
Gothamist has been following one of the most surreal aspects of the Kent Avenue drama—the ups and downs of the very unofficial "detour" sign pictured above, part of the anti-bike-lane campaign. On private property, it advises drivers that school buses will block the street and the bike lane while picking up and dropping off children. As of Dec. 31st, it was back up. As Gothamist writes, "The big question now is whether the city cares enough to step in and take it down."
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog New York City
Wednesday’s Headlines: Concerted Effort Edition
The Great Lawn will be closed to the public six weeks earlier than normal because of those damn rockers. Plus other news.
Broadway Vision: Watch 15 Years of Transformation in a Single Streetfilm
It's hard to see the big picture of just what has been accomplished between Times and Union squares. That's where Clarence Eckerson Jr. comes in.
What Do ‘Livable’ Streets Look Like in an Era of Driverless Cars?
In today's Brake podcast, Kea Wilson asks Bruce Appleyard what future livable streets have in a world of autonomous cars.
NYPD Steps Up Effort Against Illegal Mopeds, But Some Advocates Want a Different Approach
The NYPD seized some illegal wheels from delivery workers in the middle of their route on Wednesday, part of a stepped-up effort.
Astoria Organizers Lead the Way on Street Safety with a Reddit Strategy
The western Queens neighborhood has become a hub for a new kind of safe street advocacy.
