Bicycle Safety

Looks like some New Yorkers who bike on Bedford Avenue decided not to sit idly by after the city removed 14 blocks of bike lane in South Williamsburg. Multiple sources informed Streetsblog this morning that DIY, unofficial bike lane striping has appeared along the stretch of Bedford Avenue that was sandblasted last week. We don't know who is responsible for this act of civil disobedience and guerrilla safety enhancement, but apparently, their efforts have run afoul of the law.

In the fall of 2007, 2008, and again this year, Streetsblog readers have alerted us to hazardous conditions on the "Cherry Walk" segment of the Hudson River Greenway. According to the city, no major improvements are in the offing.

When are the police finally going to reclaim the streets from speeding and dangerous driving?

The Community Board 8 committee vote this month in support of protected bike lanes for Manhattan's Upper East Side was nothing short of momentous. Wednesday's full board decision presents an even bigger hurdle, though by no means an insurmountable one. The reason, says Caroline Samponaro, director of bicycle advocacy for Transportation Alternatives, is community input.

We didn't want to let the week slip by without following up on some promising news from the Upper East Side. On Wednesday, a day after Community Board 7 deliberated, and ultimately approved, a resolution supporting protected bike lanes, Community Board 8's transportation committee considered a similar reso:

From the first (and only) town-hall meeting of the Manhattan Borough President’s Planning for Pedestrians Council in 1987, to Manhattan Community Board 8’s “Bicycle Forum” this week, I’ve sat through innumerable gatherings on cyclist-pedestrian conflicts.

This past August, a young cyclist and a beloved Transportation Alternatives volunteer, James Langergaard, was struck and killed by a car at Queens Boulevard and 69th Street.

The current iteration of Grand Street, by most any objective measure, has to be considered a success. In the year since it was reconfigured to host the city's first parking-protected bike lane, with the blessing of Community Board 2, injuries are down 30 percent, with about 1,000 cyclists using the lane daily.

This amazing video, via Chicago Bicycle Advocate, was produced for the Chicago Police Department to educate drivers, cyclists and officers on traffic laws pertaining to bikes.