This Week: Tell State DOT to Tear Down the Sheridan

Most of the action is packed into two days this week, with the MTA holding its often-colorful public hearings — this time on the issue of station agents — on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday also brings an opportunity to tell the state DOT to tear down the Sheridan Expressway, the "highway to nowhere" that South Bronx community groups want to turn into housing, mixed-use development, and parks. And, also on Wednesday, Manhattan Community Board 3 discusses who should get to park in bike lanes. 

  • Tuesday: NYSDOT presents three alternatives for the Sheridan Expressway, including removing the highway altogether, at a meeting of the Sheridan stakeholder’s committee. 6 p.m. 
  • Also Tuesday: The MTA will hold two of four public hearings on its proposal to reduce the number of station agents at 44 subway stations and to reduce station agent hours at 42 locations. Manhattan and Queens, 6 p.m.
  • Wednesday: Manhattan Community Board 3’s Transportation Committee discusses whether school buses should be allowed to park in bike lanes, as Access-a-Ride vans are currently allowed to do. Also, DOT will give a presentation on the Safe Streets for Seniors program in Chinatown. 6:30 p.m.
  • Also Wednesday: The MTA’s station agent public hearings continue in Brooklyn and the Bronx. 6 p.m.
  • Sunday: An epic ride along the 40 miles of what could/should become the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. 10 a.m.
  • All weekend: Weekend Walks in Brownsville, Bushwick, the Lower East Side, and Sunset Park.

Keep an eye on the calendar for updated listings. Got an event we should know about? Drop us a line.

  • FYI, I don’t think Access-a-Ride vans are permitted to load in bike lanes, regardless of what the Community Board 3 agenda item reads.

    I can’t find anything that creates an exception for Access-A-Ride operators to the general prohibition against any vehicle driving on or across a bike lane, except to cross the bike lane while accessing a durbside space or to clear an obstruction in the roadway (and then only after looking and yielding to any oncoming bicycle traffic), found in 34 Rules of the City of New York Section 4-12(p)(2) (found at page 66-67 of this pdf.)

    A Gothamist article quotes an NYC Transit official as stating, in response to a photo showing a van in the Sands Street bike lane, that Access-A-Ride operators are not excepted from traffic regulations:

    A spokesman for NYC Transit gave us this statement after viewing the photo: “Access-A-Ride drivers are instructed to observe all restrictions on parking and standing. However, due to traffic, drivers are often challenged to find safe locations to either pick up or drop off customers.”

    http://gothamist.com/2009/11/12/access-a-ride_renders_bike_lane_ina.php

    CB 3 is not the only CB where one hears that Access-a-Ride is allowed to be in the bike lane; I heard it at a CB4 meeting as well. I think someone is spreading misinformation.

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