Pedestrian Infrastructure

Leading transportation policy decision makers from around the country are gathered at NYU today for the National Association of City Transportation Officials' "Designing Cities" conference. It's an exciting moment for livable streets and sustainable transportation, with the people who are implementing a new generation of complete streets, surface transit improvements, public spaces, and parking policies sharing their expertise and helping to spread innovation to other cities.

American cities and towns should get a leg up on using federal funds to make streets safer for biking and walking, thanks to rules enacted yesterday by the Federal Highway Administration.

Yesterday at the Municipal Art Society Summit, three architecture firms -- Foster + Partners, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and WXY architecture + urban design -- unveiled proposals to remake public space in Midtown East, as the Bloomberg administration sets out to rezone the area for taller towers.

Last year, Hilda Cohen, Ali Loxton and their neighbors picked up the pieces of a torpedoed bike lane proposal for Lafayette Avenue, showing DOT and Brooklyn Community Board 2 the community's broad support for safer cycling on the busy street. After 1,400 signatures and countless hours of work, Lafayette Avenue from Fulton Street to Classon Avenue was recently striped with a shared lane for bicyclists.

Late last week, DOT completed the installation of gravel epoxy sidewalk extensions in the Financial District along Broadway and Whitehall Street, from the area surrounding the famous bull statue south to an existing plaza between Pearl and Water streets. The additions feature planters and flex-post to keep drivers out, but no seating.

DOT went before Queens Community Board 1 on Tuesday to propose a pedestrian plaza at the intersection of 30th Avenue, 33rd Street and Newtown Avenue. The audience at the meeting was split on the proposal, but CB members were not: They voted against the plaza 25 to 7.

The intersection of 30th Avenue, 33rd Street and Newtown Avenue was the site of DOT's first-ever one-day demonstration plaza. Will it get a permanent public space enhancement?

Yesterday, the city of Chicago rolled out a sweeping new plan for pedestrian safety [PDF]. With some 250 recommendations -- including traffic-calming measures like pedestrian islands, chicanes and midblock curb bumpouts -- Chicago joins cities like New York and Portland in formalizing a plan to meet targets for reducing pedestrian injuries and deaths.

In the Norwood neighborhood of the Bronx, there are no crosswalks connecting to the central public space, Williamsbridge Oval Park. Much of the street that surrounds the park even lacks sidewalks. Fed up with what they say is inaction from DOT's Bronx office, local residents are now appealing to the top with a letter to Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan [PDF].