Urban Design
Streetsblog Basics
R-E-S-P-E-C-T: DOT to Install Sleek New Bike Parking Shelters
While the NYPD, Parks Department, MTA, unnamed authorities and, of course, bike thieves, busily clip locks and cart off New Yorkers' bicycles in great number, the Department of Transportation is making sure that not only do bike commuters have a classy spot to park outdoors, but their tushies won't get wet when it rains. Next month, cyclists will be happy to see the first of many new public bike-parking shelters popping up near transit hubs throughout the city. Word has it there was a bit of flexibility built in to the Cemusa bus shelter contract and DOT decided to get a bit creative and try this out. New York Magazine reports:
November 15, 2007
Prince Street Bike Lane Has Arrived
After months of debate including criticism from cyclists who want a physically-separated bike lane built on dangerous Houston Street and local car owners who want to protect their right to cheap on-street parking, a freshly painted green bike lane was spotted on Prince Street late last night at the corner of Mott. As Ariel Sharon used to say, there's nothing like "facts on the ground" to end an argument. Though, come to think of it, they're still arguing in the Middle East.
November 15, 2007
Crosstown Bike Lanes Remain in the Crosshairs
Opponents of the Department of Transportation's plan for a new Lower Manhattan crosstown bike route are expected to make a show of force at tonight's Community Board 2 Transportation Committee meeting in an effort to preserve a few dozen on-street parking spaces along Carmine and Bleecker Streets. Bicycling advocates are urging their supporters to show up as well.
November 13, 2007
DOT Rolls Out Fort Greene Bike Lanes & Traffic-Calming
Via Brownstoner, the Department of Transportation is building out a nice street redesign project in Brooklyn right now as a part of its Ft. Greene Bike Lane & Traffic Calming Project (download a project description here). Formerly a 70-foot-wide one-way street, Carlton Avenue, above, has been converted to two-way operation with five-foot bike lanes on either side. DOT is now building a 20-foot wide planted median in the middle. The Carlton Ave. improvements are similar to recent projects on Park Slope's 9th Street and Vanderbilt Ave. in Prospect Heights.
November 12, 2007
In Amsterdam Cyclists Always Get the Green Light
The green wave of Odense, Denmark.
November 12, 2007
Nasty Newsrack Photo Contest Finalists
The Municipal Art Society will be announcing the winner of its Nasty Newsrack Photo Competition tomorrow.
November 12, 2007
DOT Rolls Out the New Lower Manhattan Crosstown Bike Route
The street re-surfacing men and machinery were out in force in Soho last night. Houston Street Bike Safety Initiative Director Ian Dutton snapped this photo on Prince Street. Once the street is repaved, the Department of Transportation will stripe the hotly debated Prince and Bleecker Street bike lanes.
November 8, 2007
Jan Gehl: Gridlocked Streets Are “Not a Law of Nature”
It could have been just another gathering of urban idealists, agreeing with each other about how great it would be to have more public space for people, and less for cars.
November 7, 2007
Shared Space on the Brooklyn Bridge
I'd bet that people walking outnumber people bicycling across the Brooklyn Bridge by at least 100 to one. I cycle across the wooden-slatted walkway that soars over the top of the bridge regularly now, and every time I do so I think about this. My rolling bicycle negates the space for scores of people every second, forcing them into a relatively skinny strip that is half as wide as the whole walkway.
November 7, 2007