Van Bramer Won’t Back Skillman Protected Bike Lane Without a Pedestrian Crossing By P.S. 11

Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer is withholding support for protected bike lanes connecting Queens Boulevard and the Queensboro Bridge until the city addresses pedestrian safety concerns at P.S. 11 on Skillman Avenue between 54th Street and 55th Street.

“I will not entertain any plans to change Skillman or 43rd Avenue, and even contemplate bike lanes, until P.S. 11 is taken care of,” Van Bramer said at a press conference yesterday outside the school. “Nothing happens until this is right.”

At issue are the unmarked pedestrian crossings by the school, which opened a new wing in the fall with an entrance on Skillman east of 54th Street. Skillman is a one-way street with two moving lanes at this location, conditions ripe for excessive car speeds, but there are no marked crossings or traffic control devices, and not much to calm traffic besides a painted bike lane.

P.S. 11 PTA leader Mindy Bichler-Greene said school administrators first raised the issue with DOT in 2016, before the new wing opened. But a DOT presentation about the bike lane to the PTA last month didn’t address those concerns.

“We have been asking since last year for a crosswalk, a crossing guard, a stop sign, a stop light — anything to protect our children,” Bichler-Greene said. “We don’t want to hear about any other plans on Skillman except for our stop light and the crosswalk.”

On Friday, the PTA submitted a petition to DOT calling for “a crosswalk, stop sign or stop light” on Skillman east of 54th Street to connect the school and the library [PDF]. Bichler-Greene said they’ve picked up almost 1,000 signatures.

By narrowing Skillman to one motor vehicle moving lane, DOT’s plan for a protected bike lane would reduce excessive car speeds and improve the safety of pedestrian crossings. Traffic lights might make matters worse, since drivers often accelerate to “beat” yellow lights, but marked crosswalks with stop signs wouldn’t create that risk.

The DOT plan calls for several new painted pedestrian islands and marked crosswalks, though not at 54th Street, which terminates at a T-intersection with Skillman. The area by the school and the library has a “mixing zone” in the place where parents and school administrators want a crosswalk:

In April, Van Bramer called for protected bike lanes on Skillman Avenue and 43rd Avenue, its eastbound counterpart, but he says the absence of a crossing by the school is a deal breaker.

“Every single street in front of a school, or near a school, has got to go to the top of the priority list,” Van Bramer said. “We have almost no traffic safety measures in place on Skillman between 54th and 55th.”

Speaking to Streetsblog after the press conference, Van Bramer said DOT reps dropped the ball in their presentation to the PTA.

“The DOT loses credibility, quite frankly, when they come here to talk about redesigns and bike lanes, in the interest of safety, but then don’t [address preexisting concerns],” Van Bramer said. “Because then I have parents who come to me and say, ‘Oh so we’re gonna make it safer for bicyclists, but not my kids?'”

“If they want my support, and I think they need it, I’m telling them this can’t move forward until they get this right,” he said. “That’s, I believe, the right thing to do — because this is a clear and present danger.”

Update (4:50 p.m.): A DOT spokesperson sent over this statement:

“Following several meetings with PS11, the PTA, the community board and Council Member Van Bramer’s office, DOT is reviewing this location for a signal or all-way stop sign. DOT is working with the council member’s office and the community board to select a new date for a community meeting on this project.”