Protected Bike Lanes

This dispatch from last night’s meeting of Brooklyn Community Board 6 comes to us from reader Doug Gordon. You can follow Doug at his blog, Brooklyn Spoke.

On the heels of Brad Lander's survey showing that a whopping 78 percent of interested Brooklyn residents want to keep the traffic calming Prospect Park West bike lane, DOT has released still more data [PDF] showing that the new street design keeps New Yorkers safer and helps them get where they're going.

DOT's planned safety improvements for the intersection of St. Nicholas and Amsterdam Avenues are currently being installed, as shown in pictures snapped by Streetsblog reader BicyclesOnly. Major features include shorter crosswalks, additional pedestrian space, and Upper Manhattan's first segment of physically-protected bike lane.

David Goodman's City Room piece on the PPW bike lane survey includes the first new information in months about the extent of former DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall's involvement in efforts to do away with the current design.

After a chaotic committee meeting Monday, Manhattan Community Board 7 was able to discuss the implementation of the Columbus Avenue protected bike lane far more productively at its full meeting Tuesday night, according to people who attended. The discussion of the new street design may lead to the creation of a community board task force charged with helping Columbus Avenue merchants work out their delivery issues.

After rallying on the steps of City Hall this afternoon, Transportation Alternatives delivered 2,500 handwritten letters urging Mayor Bloomberg to complete the protected bike lanes on First and Second Avenues. Joined by elected officials and more than forty supporters, T.A. called on Bloomberg to fulfill the promise of safe walking and cycling on Manhattan's East Side and to complete the bike and pedestrian improvements up to 125th Street.

Columbus Avenue merchants on the two blocks between 81st and 83rd Street led a chorus of complaints against that avenue's new protected bike lane at a raucous meeting of Manhattan CB 7's transportation committee last night. The committee co-chairs limited the discussion only to criticism of the bike lane, which runs from 96th to 77th Street, in an attempt to address specific complaints, but opposition quickly flew out of control. About half a dozen merchants spoke at the packed meeting, which at times descended into an anti-bike screaming match.

Okay, we finally have a fixed date and time for the Manhattan Community Board 7 meeting where the protected bike lane on Columbus Avenue is expected to be a hot topic. Mark Monday, November 8, on your calendars. The board's transportation committee will be meeting and word is that bike lane opponents are massing for the occasion.