Two Way Fullfillment

After over 2 years, my wish came true. It was March of 2010 when I made the observation (and blog post) about the obvious need for a two way bike lane on the 72nd Street thru-street in Central Park (AKA Terrace Dr). Being a one way street, it sort of made sense for a one way bike lane in its inception, but being a heavily utilized crosstown route through the park in both directions, there had developed a constant danger of salmon traffic. Finally, as of July 2012, the lane has finally taken on the appropriate form, allowing safe passage for bikes in either direction, while allowing the one lane of west bound cars.

This is what it looked like before:

March 2010 Post

Next step, get rid of the cars.

Slowly Appearing

Baby steps. After weeks of being stenciled, there is finally some permanent road paint defining the new bike lane on 1st Ave above 72nd. Notice the oversized car parking lane. I'm thinking they should put a buffer on the left side of the bike lane as well, to establish a safe path helping against getting doored as well.

Only question now is, how to prevent people from double parking right there?

New Protected Lanes

The following is a an exciting clip from today's NYCycles DOT newsletter regarding progress to NYC's every expanding bike network. Things like this make me all giddy and whatnot...
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This year DOT will install over over 7.5 miles of new protected lanes...........DOT is adding new protected bike lanes to several locations around the City this year, and extending the 8th Avenue bike lane. In the past few years, the lanes have improved safety and reduced sidewalk cycling. Since the lanes were installed on 9th Avenue in Manhattan, injuries to all street users have dropped 56% and sidewalk cycling is down 84%. On Grand Street, also in Manhattan, injuries are down 31% and sidewalk cycling is down 84%.

In Brooklyn, a bi-directional, parking protected lane on Prospect Park West (http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/PPW_CB6_4-12-2010-presentation.pdf) creates a direct and safer route for cyclists from south of Prospect Park (who have long used the same route, while either going against traffic or on the sidewalk). The project was conceived at the community’s request to calm traffic and was designed with their concerns in mind. Warning signs encourage people exiting the park to look for cyclists in both directions and cyclists have flashing yellow signals reminding them to yield to pedestrians at crossings. The bones of the lane have already been installed; the work should be complete by the end of July, weather permitting.

Later this summer, DOT will install a new parking protected bike lane on Columbus Avenue (http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/20100511_columbus_ave_cb7.pdf) on Manhattan’s Upper West side from West 96th to West 77th Streets. There are currently no southbound bicycle facilities on the Upper West Side (unless you detour west to the Hudson River Greenway). The width of Columbus Avenue presented an opportunity for DOT to install the lane without removing a travel lane and simultaneously make safety improvements to calm traffic and decrease pedestrian crossing distances at intersections. Work has already begun on the First and Second Avenue Bus Rapid Transit project, which includes a parking protected bike path between East 14th Street and Houston Street. By the fall, new lanes will be installed on First Avenue in Manhattan from Houston to 34th Street, and on 2nd Avenue from 34th to 23rd Streets and 14th Street to Houston. DOT will also upgrade the 1st Avenue lane from 72nd to 125th Street, installing a painted buffer between motorists and cyclists. DOT hopes to extend these facilities in future years.


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Future Reveals History...

In preparation for the repaving of 1st Avenue to incorporate new bike and BRT lanes, a glimpse of history is seen within the preserved layers of hardscape.  Funny to think, bicycles existed even back in these times, when surfaces were less forgiving.  Funny also how it took 100 years to create the simple lane infrastructure we finally have today...

Truck Farm

I was riding down 2nd Ave this morning when I saw a familiar sight. It was the famous Truck Farm in action, the peculiar yet spectacular little mobile CSA, spreading leafy goodness all over town...

Truck Farm on 2nd Avenue

I took the video with my brand new GoPro Hero HD wide-angle digital helmet cam. Considering this was literally the first time using it, I'd have to say it worked out pretty well. Check out other sick videos by various extreme users...

GoPro Hero

Wheelie Cool

Check out this dude goin down Lex.

He pretty much held it indefinitely.

Central Park Lanes

With the vast road width in Central park, there isn't any reason why all the bike lanes can't be enhanced with a multidirectional bisection. For example, look at the 72nd St Transverse:

I try to only use the proper direction of these roads, but when shooting across the park at 72nd St from west to east, it would be nice if I had a clearly marked space as to not interfere with west bound traffic. This change should be an easy one, except for the fact that I'm sure it's multi-departmental with both  Parks Dept and DOT involved...

The Dedicated Lane

With Manhattan's long and wide one-way avenues, why do we still have such congestion? The question should really be, who is actually worthy of being relieved of such congestion, and how can we alleviate just them. Let's face it, certain user of the road should be protected over others. Here are the main avenue user categories in my perspective (in no order):

Cabs (and other T&LC vehicles)

Personal Cars, Trucks & Motos

Delivery & Service Vehicles (public & private)

Busses

Emergency Vehicles

Commuter & Delivery Bicycles

Parking (and double parking!)
Construction & Maintenance Operations

How would you order them in terms of priority?

I have expressed my concerns over the lack of prioritization in the past. The following is an excerpt from a journal entry for a planning class at Pratt back in June, 2009:

"Let me elaborate on the dedicated lane, because this addresses what I believe to be the biggest problem due to congestion, and that is emergency vehicle efficiency. About two or three times a week, as I am biking to or from work right through standstill traffic (the greatest benefit for cyclists), I pass an emergency vehicle, sirens on, that cannot move because traffic is stopped and cars can’t physically pull out of the way. The effect congestion has on individual commuters, taxi cabs, busses, etc is IRRELEVANT when compared to the effect it has on emergency vehicle efficiency. If somebody has 30 minutes to get to a business meeting in Midtown West from the Upper East Side and they choose to take a cab, they will obviously be late, and that is their problem, not the public’s. They could be on time if they took the subway. Now if somebody is having a heart attack or an apartment building is on fire and the medics or firefighters cannot respond quickly, people might die. It is for this reason and this reason alone, that there should be a dedicated lane on EVERY AVENUE for emergency vehicles that can also be used for non motor vehicles (cyclists, roller bladders, skateboarders, etc) that can easily move out of the way. The lane should be between the sidewalk and the parking lane as to not causes problems when cars are trying to park. This solves the biggest problem due to congestion, that HAS YET TO BE ADEQUATELY ADDRESSED and also provides much needed resources for non-motor forms of transportation. It may not fix congestion as a whole, but it will fix the most important aspect of congestion."

The dedicated lane capable of handling an emergency vehicle has proved its worth on 9th Ave, and now the east side is embracing this idea. The MTA and DOT are trying to finalize a plan for a 1st and 2nd Ave continuos system (thanks to Caroline Samponaro of TA for passing this along):

Here's the plan

Here is one of the designs for a big portion of the UES (where they AREN'T building a subway simultaneously and for the next 10 years)