PPW Bike Lanes Still Controversial
Surprise! The Prospect Park bike lanes are still stirring up controversy. Today the Brooklyn Paper reports that this PPW Bike Lane Survey started by Council members Steve Levin and Brad Lander got 800 responses on its first day. While the city has been analyzing traffic speed and accidents after the lane was put in, it…
Surprise! The Prospect Park bike lanes are still stirring up controversy. Today the Brooklyn Paper reports that this PPW Bike Lane Survey started by Council members Steve Levin and Brad Lander got 800 responses on its first day. While the city has been analyzing traffic speed and accidents after the lane was put in, it wants community feedback before deciding whether or not to make the bike lane permanent. Questions deal with safety and design modifications. (One question asks if the bike lanes should be more compatible with the historic character of PPW.) In the meantime, rival bike lane protests are planned for this Thursday morning – supporters will be at GAP with protesters at PPW and Carroll Street. Uh oh!
Survey Says PPW Bike Lane Still Very Controversial [BK Paper]
ITS FUCKING NEW YORK CITY, CONTROLLED CHAOS AT BEST….WHAT DO YOU PEOPLE EXPECT? MOVE TO MONTCLAIR IF YOU WANT TO AVOID BIKE LANES AND DOUBLE PARKED CARS.
To ilovebrooklyn – I live and drive on PPW too and disagree strongly with the idea of PPW being easier to navigate now that the traffic is slower. Parking is difficult with the flow coming at you and almost always results in a honk or two. I’ve seen numerous fender benders since the bike lanes have been installed – having lived in the neighborhood for almost 20 years I had previously (before Bike Lane) seen 3 accidents – 2 of them since the lights were installed to “slow” traffic – 2 times cars have crashed into our building rushing to make the light. Since the bike lanes have been operational, I have personally seen 5 incidents – 1 mirror knocked off, 3 back enders (pretty good damage in 2 cases too – even though the crunches were at relatively low speeds) and 1 side swipe that crushed a parked car’s door. Emergency vehicles trapped behind heavy traffic – bikes still being ridden on the non-park side of PPW and great difficulty crossing streets with the view of the road not as open with the new layout. This is just my opinion and I know some people are pleased – it is nice to see people using the bike lanes but have to say I really don’t see it as a safer environment.
I agree Brooklyndreamland
as a driver I now find PPW to be worse to drive on than ever – it’s highly congested and what’s worse now is you have cyclists(mainly delivery men) riding on the right side of PPW, so now I have to avoid them, double-parked cars and cars jockeying for a spot on the left side – great planning!
I’m starting to really hate extremist.
Totally agree that Bloomberg runs this city like it is his own personal empire. Public hearings/public comments are just for some activists to vent and the city does what it wants, not what’s in the best interest of all. Specific to the bike lanes on PPW, they make what was once a beautiful boulevard seem narrow and congested. And why do they need bike lanes in two directions, are bikers really that adherent to traffic laws, they certainly aren’t when they are riding in the street with cars. And could we please stop this demonization of cars, like anyone who drives a car should be shot. Especially given the seemingly endless array of MTA service cuts, a family of four riding in a car is not the worst thing in the world, especially if you want to get from one end of Brooklyn to the other, or dare I say Manhattan (which I know Mr. Mayor doesn’t really want any Brooklyn cars in Manhattan either.)
The cops just need to crack down on the cyclists when they ignore the traffic laws. They did manage to get cabs to actually start using turn signals at one point.
From the perspective of climate change/emissions and the carnage from collisions I find streets that serve only cars more controversial.
This is my proposal going forward if my tax dollars are now paying for the fast creation of bike lanes which don’t seem properly planned and are filled with A-hole cylists going the wrong way,jumping lights, swerving all over the place etc:
Cyclists should now have to register their bikes with the State of NY, pay a small registration fee and should start paying insurance just like a car driver does. This I believe will at least allow recourse for pedestrians and drivers alike to be able to hold a cyclist accountable for their part of an accident.
I live (and drive) on PPW and support the bike lane. I think the criticisms are for the most part ill-founded and overwrought, even from the perspective of drivers. I think it’s easier to navigate the street in a car now that it’s not a speedway. And though I don’t have stats to prove this, the bike lane seems to have cut down on car crime on the park side of PPW. The lane where the cars are now parked is better lit and doesn’t provide near as much cover for lurkers.
Also, I’m not sure why a three-lane asphalt street with cars parked on both sides is more “historically accurate” than a two-lane asphalt street with cars parked on both sides, plus a bike lane. I think the bike lane looks nice. (And my apartment faces it, so it is right there in my face all the time.)