Car-Free Parks

As first documented by @noahbudnick, the section of the Prospect Park loop south of the lake has had new markings (and a smooth, fresh surface) for a few weeks. On this section you can experience the more spacious 24/7 accommodations for walkers, joggers, and cyclists that will soon expand to the rest of the loop. I was over there about two weeks ago and it was kind of remarkable to see everyone using the lane designated specifically for them.

This summer, cyclists will have a second path to safely cross Central Park.

Brooklynites like the idea of reducing the number of motor vehicle lanes cutting through Prospect Park from two to one. They'd like zero even better.

At a public meeting tonight, the Prospect Park Road Sharing Task Force will present a plan to double the amount of space for pedestrians on the Prospect Park loop and reduce confusion between pedestrians and cyclists during the vast majority of time that the park is car-free.

Transportation Alternatives and the New York Chapter of the American Association of Family Physicians today released a letter to Mayor Bloomberg, signed by 140 medical professionals from a broad spectrum of specialties, praising the city's bike and pedestrian infrastructure as essential to the health of New Yorkers. It's a solid counterweight to the hysteria surrounding the recent Hunter College bike-ped crash study:

Last week, automated traffic counters were seen popping up on the loop drive in Central Park. That led many to believe that the Department of Transportation was gathering data to set a baseline for future changes to the hours cars are allowed into the park, a fact which has now been confirmed.

Though Mayor Bloomberg has ruled out the possibility of implementing a car-free Central Park trial this year, opting for further data collection instead, public support for the proposal continues to grow. At a meeting of the Manhattan Borough Board yesterday, the car-free trial picked up support from still more community boards and new City Council members.

Central Park advocate Ken Coughlin tells us he's spotted a traffic counting strip on the park loop, near Tavern on the Green.

Say what you will about yesterday's Corey Kilgannon piece extolling the "guilty pleasure" of driving on the Central Park loop, it's refreshing to see the New York Times veil of objectivity stripped away, revealing the naked windshield perspective beneath.