Urban Design
Streetsblog Basics
New Traffic Island Makes News, Takes a Beating
Here's the scene at the corner of Grand Street and the F.D.R. Drive, where motorists exiting the expressway turn 90 degrees onto the local street. The DOT recently installed this modest pedestrian refuge island, which sparked an outcry from area residents, who complained that the island was hard to see.
January 10, 2007
Streetscape Aesthetics vs. Pedestrian Safety
A sacrifice we were willing to make: Until 1922, much of Park Avenue was, in fact, a park. Looking north on Park Ave at about 50th Street. That's Saint Bartholomew's Church on the right.
January 4, 2007
New Year’s Resolution: Physically Separated Bike Lanes in ’07
Happy New Year! As part of its commitment to create 200 miles of new bike lanes in the next three years, New York City's Department of Transportation plans to build out 70 miles of new bike lanes in 2007. The devil, as always, is in the details.
January 2, 2007
Setting the Agenda on Pedestrian Safety
On the evening of Saturday, January 10, 2004, Peter Hornbeck, 26, stepped off the curb at Park Avenue and 96th Street and was struck by a Chevy Suburban traveling 74 miles per hour. The SUV, being driven by a 26-year-old man from Queens who had had his license revoked years earlier, dragged Hornbeck for a block as Hornbeck's friends cried out in horror. The driver, Gurpreet Oberoi, sped off, ditched his SUV and continued by bus to Atlantic City, where he spent the night gambling. Oberoi's friends stayed in the city, went to the police and called Oberoi on his cell phone to urge him to turn himself in. Oberoi was arrested (NYT Select, 2nd item) days later and sentenced (NYT Select) to up to nine years in prison for second degree manslaughter.
December 31, 2006
Small Step for Pedestrians & Cyclists; Giant Leap for NYC
The Department of Transportation's recently announced streetscape renovation at the Bedford Avenue L subway station in Williamsburg, Brooklyn marks the first time ever in New York City that car parking spaces have been removed to make way for bicycle parking.
December 22, 2006
New German Community Models Car-Free Living
The Vauban Department of Transportation gets to work. Schritt Tempo: Walking Speed.
December 22, 2006
Streetfilms: On-Street Bicycle Parking, Portland
Following the news about the new sidewalk extensions and bike racks being installed in place of car parking space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Clarence Eckerson of Streetfilms sends along this short video looking at on-street bicycle parking in Portland, Oregon, that cyclists' Shangri-La. As Greg Raisman from Portland DOT says, "After we put it in, it was so successful that businesses two blocks away unanimously asked for another one..."
December 20, 2006
Wider Sidewalks & a Bicycle Park-and-Ride for Williamsburg
Streetsblog has gotten a hold of a draft of DOT's plan to widen the sidewalk and install new bike racks at the Bedford Avenue L subway station in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. As diagrammed above, the plan calls for the elimination of five motor vehicle parking spaces on N. 7th Street at Bedford Avenue, alongside the subway station stairwell on the southeast corner (see the corner at the bottom of the diagram).
December 18, 2006
Streetfilms: Curbing Cars in Soho
You've got to hand it to Clarence Eckerson. The producer of Streetfilms managed to turn around a video of this morning's press conference announcing the new Bruce Schaller study of Soho streets (PDF) in less than four hours and it's a really nice piece of work. My only gripe is that he edited out the taxi cab blasting its horn in the middle of Schaller's talk. Anyway, here is video of this morning's press conference including lots of great, weekend footage of Soho streets:
December 14, 2006