PPW Bike Lane Foes Want "Compromise" Lane on 8th Ave

Tomorrow Brooklyn's Community Board 6 transportation committee will vote on the DOT's proposed changes to the famous Prospect Park West bike lane in Park Slope. Among the adjustments on the table: installing rumble strips at intersections to slow cyclists down, narrowing the buffer between the bike lane and the floating parking lane in order to widen the traffic lane, and installing raised cement pedestrian refuges to give people a better view of oncoming cyclists (and keep cars from illegally parking there). But the bike lane's determined opponents have another idea: relocating half of the bike lane to Eighth Avenue, a block west.

Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes, which filed a joint lawsuit with Seniors For Safety to force the DOT to erase the bike lane, says the bike lane should be changed to one lane running (south) on PPW. They insist a second bike lane could be added in the opposition direction on Eighth Avenue, and this would enable the DOT to widen the traffic lanes on PPW. “It will make crossing the street easier and safer for pedestrians," Louise Hainline, the NBBL's spokesperson, tells Brooklyn Paper. "[And] provide some space for entering and exiting [parked] vehicles, which is too dangerous now."

But some residents point out that Eight Avenue is already more narrow than Fifth Avenue, which has bike lanes but is still the scene of cycling accidents. The DOT seems cool to the compromise; Seth Solomonow, a spokesperson for the department, says, "It’s not clear what this proposal would do to address speeding on Prospect Park West, which is what the community asked us to [fix]. The ‘compromise’ doesn’t hold up." And Eric McClure, of the Park Slope Neighbors, tells us:

The so-called "Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes" keep trotting out "compromises" that would succeed principally in compromising the safety of people using our streets. While many of us would also love to see a bike lane on 8th Avenue, if the "compromise" is replacing a safe, protected north-south Class I path with two less-safe, unprotected paired Class II lanes—and returning PPW to three lanes of speeding traffic—the net of this would be making Prospect Park West less safe. And we won't compromise people's safety.
The community has time and again demonstrated its strong support for the current design of PPW. There really isn't anything to negotiate.

Caroline Samponaro at Transportation Alternatives says, "The Eighth Avenue proposal is not a good proposal and in fact, threatens the safety of bikers and pedestrians. Bike lanes are street safety improvements like sidewalks, and a sidewalk on one street does not negate the need for one on another - bike lanes are no different. The fact is Prospect Park West is a safer street now because of the bike lanes and pedestrian safety improvements." And for a look at how pedestrians take their lives into their hands crossing the scary PPW bike lane in action, here's a video by Brooklyn Spoke:

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on March 16, 2011 2:53 PM

Comments [rss]

Caitlin Nugent

That may be one of the safest bike lanes I have seen! The ones in the city don't tell the stupid blind pedestrians of all ages to "look" even though they should have the common sense to do so all ready, or they should not live in a city!

Opus the Poet

I have a compromise for them: Take out the bike lanes and both lanes of car traffic and make the whole thing pedestrian only except for car crossings at the park entrances so NYPD can get into the park. No bike lane and no cars to endanger the pedestrians.

cmdrogogov

Stop catering to a bunch of geriatric fucks rooted in mid-20th century thinking.

Fronko

Come on! Everyone knows that if you're in a wheelchair or use a cane, you want to cross as many lanes of traffic to cross as possible. It's like your own little game of Frogger!

bggb

Wait, NBBL wants to reduce the buffer between the bike lane and the parked cars, and this will create a SAFER space for people to exit cars?

What?

handsomedevil

They also seem to think that crossing three lanes of traffic is safer than crossing two lanes.

These people are just pulling arguments out of their asses. So sad.

tijuanatornado

Compromise? Sounds like someone is losing and is willing to settle in exchange for leniency....

eflash

this idea is compromise for the sake of compromise, with neither side winning at all. these Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes are big babies who just want to have their way.

Gwinny

If 8th Avenue truly is even more narrow than 5th -- which has "sharrows" on parts of it and is definitely not safe for cyclists -- then this is indeed a stupid idea.

dollarmenu

5th Avenue is definitely wider -- two lanes of traffic (bi-directional), two bike lanes, and a lane of parking on either side. 8th Avenue has two lanes of traffic and two lanes of parking.

However because 8th Avenue is one-way, it would only need one bike lane installed, and therefore doesn't need to be as wide as 5th Avenue (accommodating two bike lanes). So the fact that it's narrower isn't necessarily the dealbreaker here. Safety, on the other hand...

Gwinny

Not all of 5th Avenue has the bike lanes... the Northern part of it is just sharrows. When I was helping my boyfriend move in nearby (using a pickup truck), I got stuck behind a mom & dad pulling kid trailers with their bikes... the width of the trailers plus the bikes themselves *impossible* to even try to get around them. When I was able to, I pulled up alongside them and told them they should find a safer route for the sake of their kids' safety... and that I, as a regular cyclist, paid them extra courtesy and waited behind them, but that most wouldn't do that and would try to get around them (possibly into oncoming traffic).

So I can only imagine how dangerous an 8th Avenue bike lane and/or shared lane might turn out to be. Also, a one-way bike lane obviously doesn't help people wanting to go in the other direction...