Bike Lanes

A reader sends this shot of the freshly paved surface of Adams Street, heading toward the Brooklyn Bridge just south of Johnson Street. The parking regulations have switched sides, so it looks like the old curbside bike lane on the right side of the street -- a notorious double-parking zone -- will be shifting over, either all the way to the left curb or between the parking lane and the moving lane. We have a request in with DOT to find out what the plan is.

When DOT presented plans for traffic calming along Long Island City's 44th Drive in March, the department chose to put the four lane street on a road diet, using some of the reallocated space for a painted median. That still left enough space in the extra-wide parking lanes for a bike lane, however, a fact which Queens Community Board 2 pointed out at the time.

Earlier this week, Brooklyn Community Board 10 voted to stick with their stance against adding a painted bike lane to Bay Ridge Parkway. Since the project [PDF] would simply impose a little order on an extra-wide street without removing any traffic lanes or parking spots, it's tempting to write off the whole board as hostile to any bike infrastructure. That would be a mistake. There were signs of progress on Tuesday, as a few CB members signaled their determination to dispel myths about bike projects and win over their colleagues.

In the opening round of the court case against the Prospect Park West bike lane, the city says that the judge sided with its lawyers on the procedural question at stake in today's hearing. Said a spokesperson for the city's Law Department, which is representing the defense in the case:

The opponents of the Prospect Park West bike lane had their first day in court today. Attorneys for both sides argued privately at the bench of Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Bert Bunyan for around five minutes. Afterwards, each side would only say that they would be back in court on June 22. We're following up with the city's Law Department to find out what was discussed and decided today and what it means for the case moving forward.

DOT needs to accelerate the build-out of the city's bike network in working-class neighborhoods outside the center city, say graduate students in the Hunter College urban planning department. They argue that expanding the geographic focus of the bike program would not only improve access to safe cycling for underserved neighborhoods, it might just help overcome the current backlash as well.

City Council Transportation Committee chair James Vacca has made headlines for his inquisitorial hearings on DOT's bike and plaza programs. And it looks like his office was batting around ideas with street safety opponents before the first of those hearings last December.

Last July, the DOT announced plans to calm one of the most dangerous intersections in Queens, at the foot of the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge. Greenpoint Avenue is only two lanes wide on either side of the bridge, but as the road crosses Newtown Creek, it widens to four lanes and the bike lane on the Brooklyn side disappears, allowing traffic to speed up. When that fast-moving bridge traffic hits the confusing intersection of Greenpoint Avenue, Van Dam Street and Review Avenue on the Queens side, it's a recipe for disaster.

Bike planners, professional and amateur: Come and get it. The National Association of City Transportation Officials has released its Urban Bikeways Design Guide in digital format.