Protected Bike Lanes
Streetsblog Basics
Flashback: Grand Army Plaza Public Workshop, March 2007
With Brooklyn Community Board 6 unanimously approving DOT's modifications to the Prospect Park West bike lane, the public process surrounding this project has passed another milestone. Including committee votes, last night marked the fourth CB vote in the last two years in favor of the PPW redesign or the city's proposed changes to it. The process that led to those votes goes back even further, and it's worth a reminder of just how long the idea of calming traffic and improving bike access on PPW has been bubbling up from local residents.
April 14, 2011
Brooklyn CB 6 Unanimously Approves DOT Modifications to PPW Bike Lane
In a unanimous voice vote last night, Brooklyn Community Board 6 passed a resolution supporting NYC DOT's proposed modifications to the Prospect Park West bike lane. The changes include building raised pedestrian islands, adding bike "rumble strips" at crosswalks, and narrowing the buffer between the bike lane and parked cars at the northernmost end of the street. The resolution includes several other requests, asking DOT to search for ways to add on-street parking spots on PPW and side streets, and to monitor safety stats on the redesigned street for the next three years.
April 14, 2011
Would You and Your Kids Bike on PPW Without Physical Separation?
Clarence posted these clips from yesterday's family ride on Prospect Park West, asking us to imagine the street as bike lane opponents would have it -- with only a striped, un-protected lane to separate cyclists from traffic. I can't really picture families biking on such a street. Can you?
April 11, 2011
Who Rides the Lanes? 750 Turn Out for the Prospect Park West Family Ride
On a grey, chilly Sunday, an estimated 750 people, many of them on training wheels and balance bikes, turned out to ride the Prospect Park West bike lane and show their support for the traffic-calming redesign. Since the two-way, separated bike path debuted last summer, it's become indispensable for many parents who use it to take their children to school and get around the neighborhood. On weekends, the lane is full of families heading to the green market at Grand Army Plaza and kids riding to Prospect Park.
April 11, 2011
Sunday: Moms, Dads and Kids Ride the Prospect Park West Bike Lane
If you read the Streetsblog headlines every morning, you already know there's a family ride happening this Sunday on the Prospect Park West bike lane. Here are the details straight from the organizers if you'd like to participate:
April 8, 2011
Jim Brennan Wants to Get Rid of the Prospect Park West Bike Lane
After Assembly Member James Brennan released the results of his telephone survey on the Prospect Park West bike lane last Friday, the assessment in the press was unanimous. WNYC's Andrea Bernstein headlined her post on the poll results "They Like It. They Really Like It." Gersh Kuntzman at The Brooklyn Paper began his story: "The survey says — again! — that Park Slopers like their controversial bike lane."
April 7, 2011
This Is What Gibson Dunn Lawyer Jim Walden Wants to Sue Out of Existence
This weekend brought some gorgeous early spring weather to NYC, and the Prospect Park West bike lane was full of people riding bicycles -- many of whom probably needed parental permission to go ride on the street.
April 4, 2011
PPW Bike Lane Opponents Have PR Firm Spinning For Them
Wondering how the members of bike lane opposition group Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes manage to get quoted so much in the papers? It helps when you have a public relations firm working the press for you.
April 1, 2011
Jim Brennan Poll Finds 3-2 Margin of Support for PPW Redesign
Assembly Member Jim Brennan's office released the results of a telephone survey on the Prospect Park West redesign this afternoon [PDF], and the topline numbers echo the results of the web survey conducted last year by Council Members Brad Lander and Steve Levin and Community Board 6.
April 1, 2011
Chuck Schumer: America Needs More Streets Like Prospect Park West
Senator Chuck Schumer broke his long public silence on the redesigned Prospect Park West in dramatic fashion this morning, leading members of Congress on a two-wheeled tour of the physically separated bike lane that runs past his Brooklyn home. Schumer used the occasion to announce that he'll be introducing new legislation to promote investment in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
April 1, 2011