It’s Not the Bike Lane, Stupid: Double-Parking Caused By Poor Curb Policies
Probably the dumbest part of a stupendously dumb Post story about double-parking tickets and the Columbus Avenue bike lane is this:
The controversial bike path from West 110th Street down to West 77th Street claimed a lane of traffic — even though it is parallel to more preferable cycling routes on Riverside Drive or in Central Park.
Trucks are forced to double-park in the middle of the avenue to make deliveries, and the companies are paying the price.
I will narrow my observations to two. First, no traffic lanes were removed to make room for the Columbus Avenue bike lane — the existing lanes were narrowed. Second, even if this project had removed a traffic lane, that wouldn’t affect access to the curb.
Delivery drivers are not double-parking because of the bike lane, or the number of traffic lanes. Narrower lanes may make double-parking more obtrusive than before, but these same truckers would have double-parked on the old Columbus Avenue design, like they do on so many NYC streets with no bike lane, because the curb is not managed to provide open spaces for delivery trucks.
The drivers — or driver, I should say, since the Post only quoted one source for the story — should be complaining to the Post about meter prices that fail to keep curbside space open, or the lack of loading zones. The bike lane isn’t the source of his problem.
And now, more pictures of double-parked trucks on streets with no bike lane…
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