Park Slope

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.

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.

Today is the last day you can fill out the Prospect Park West bike lane survey. City Council members Brad Lander and Steve Levin set up the survey a few weeks ago to see what their constituents think of the redesigned PPW.

Last week's rally to defend the Prospect Park West bike lane, organized in response to a concurrent anti-bike lane protest, was a clear-cut demonstration of the public support enjoyed by a project that's calmed speeding traffic and made cycling more attainable for people of all ages. By most estimates, supporters of the new PPW outnumbered opponents about 5 to 1.

Kate Hinds at Transportation Nation got her hands on an advance copy of DOT's Prospect Park West radar gun study and cyclist counts [PDF]. The data on traffic speeds confirm the results that Park Slope Neighbors observed this summer: The new configuration -- two traffic lanes and a two-way protected bike path instead of three traffic lanes and no bike path -- has drastically reduced speeding on PPW. Drivers now travel at average speeds that give them more time to react to pedestrians crossing the street, which will avert injuries and lessen the severity of any crashes that do occur.

I'm with Naparstek. This was the sign of the day.

Hundreds of Brooklynites gathered this morning at Grand Army Plaza to show their support for the redesigned Prospect Park West. They made a statement that should be hard for elected officials and the press to miss: Most people who live in the neighborhoods near PPW like biking and walking on the new, traffic-calmed street and don't want to see those changes taken away.

By now you've probably heard about the big rally to defend the Prospect Park West bike lane tomorrow morning. Everyone who can attend should make every effort to get to Grand Army Plaza at 8:00 a.m. and show how deep the support for the PPW re-design runs.