Bicycle Safety

If you live in Williamsburg or Greenpoint, you can't miss this community board action. DOT will present its revised plan for Kent Avenue tonight to Brooklyn CB1. Public support for the proposed two-way protected bike path will be critical, and if you sign up by 6:15 p.m., you can speak in favor of an improvement that will make cyclists safer and establish the footprint of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway.

Just about every New York City neighborhood has to deal with the consequences of dirt cheap on-street parking. When you practically give away spaces at rock-bottom prices, it guarantees double parking and endless cruising for spots by bargain hunting drivers. Which is bad news for all the bus riders, cyclists, and delivery drivers who have to contend with the clogged curbs, extra traffic, and lane-blocking vehicles that result.

The city's expanding bike network is paying dividends -- boosting the level of cycling and making streets safer in the process. Snagged from the latest issue of TA's StreetBeat, this graph is a great illustration of the "safety in numbers" effect identified by researcher Peter Jacobsen in a landmark 2003 paper published in Injury Prevention. The stats in New York reinforce Jacobsen's body of evidence that the more bicyclists and pedestrians are out on the street, the safer biking and walking become.

A reader emailed yesterday reporting that a bicyclist had been struck and seriously injured at the corner of Third Avenue and Atlantic Avenue near downtown Brooklyn. NYPD confirmed the collision late yesterday afternoon:

On Wednesday night, Manhattan Community Board 10 voted not to approve a buffered bike lane along Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard but left the door open for a second vote and a different outcome. The decision followed a unanimous vote by the board's transportation committee in favor of the new lane. For the time being, at least, a major addition to Harlem's bike network is on hold.

Lower Manhattan City Council rep Alan Gerson held a "transportation town hall" Monday night, following up on his pledge last year to closely monitor creeping safety enhancements to New York streets. Fellow City Council member John Liu, a candidate for comptroller, also made an appearance at the forum.

Just a reminder that Community Board 10 will consider a new buffered bike lane for Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard tonight. The lane, from W. 118th to W. 153rd Street, would complete a direct cyclist route between Central Park and the Macombs Dam Bridge, and would serve to calm traffic as well, as bikes would replace one thru lane for cars.

Plans for new bike and traffic-calming facilities in Harlem will go before Community Board 10 tomorrow night. As we reported last month, DOT intends to replace one lane of auto traffic with a buffered bike lane on Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard between W. 118th and W. 153rd Streets [PDF], completing a direct marked route between Central Park and the Macombs Dam Bridge.