The Oil Drum: Local

NYC is in the process of a dramatic transformation of its streets to promote alternative modes of transportation to the automobile – walking, biking and mass transit. To the outside observer, this might seem like a natural evolution of streetscapes or merely based on the personal viewpoints of a few influential people. But in reality, this transformation, still in its infancy, is the result of a long and dedicated advocacy campaign by groups like Transportation Alternatives, Time's Up and the dedicated bloggers and vloggers on Streetsblog and Streetfilms that is finally seeing its advocacy work pay-off. Big time.

It has long been the dream of alternative transportation advocates to not only increase the number of on-street bike lanes for cyclists, but to make them safe enough for anyone to use them – children, elderly or just a casual commuting cyclist. Basically to make them safe and comforting to anyone that doesn’t want to deal with automobiles buzzing them. The ideal to many cycling advocates is the separated bike lane because it not only provides a safer ride, but also prevents automobiles from blocking them by double parking in them.

And New York is getting its first taste of on-street separated bike lanes on a small stretch of a Ninth Avenue leading into midtown.

As an outgrowth of the fabulous Streetsblog, which challenges people to rethink the auto-centric street design, Streetfilms takes the experience to another level.

Today, Peakguy, Super G and I attended a rally-slash-PR event intended to call attention to the need for a bike lane on Houston St. Houston St. is currently being redeveloped, but there are no plans to make the street safer and more accessible for cyclists. While Greenwich Village and Community Board 2 had a significant amount of input regarding the redesign, their initial focus was on pedestrian safety, and cycling issues fell by the wayside. Since the original plan for the redesign was approved, however, three cyclists have died on Houston Street, providing the impetus for the community to ask the DOT to reconsider the plan and add a bike lane. This measure is supported by just about all Manhattan luminaries short of the mayor himself: Borough President Scott Stringer, Assemblyperson Deborah Glick, Councilman Alan Gerson, Senator Tom Duane, even Speaker Christine Quinn.

As a cyclist, this seems like a no-brainer to me. But the issue of bike lanes is actually a contentious one. Drivers, of course, think they're the only thing that matters, and often feel like cyclists are nothing more than a nuisance. The DOT doesn't want the hassle of putting a lane in, because it may take precious space away from cars.

But are bike lanes even useful? Are they safe for cyclists? Well, there are pros and cons to the issue.

It shows an inside look into the negative atmosphere at the city DOT toward cycling in the city. It appears that despite strong protestations to the dangerous bumps on the Williamsburg Bridge, Vesselinovitch was basically told to shut up by DOT deputy commissioner Primeggia.

See Vesselinovitch's departing shot at the DOT as he left work last Friday as originally posted at Streetsblog.

But now with the launch of The UPPER GREEN SIDE website, I will have separate homes for these two efforts. Many thanks to TOD reader Damek for all his hard work on setting this up.

As a resident of Manhattan's Upper East Side, a very densely populated area where very few people own cars, I'm focusing mostly on building infrastructure for alternate transportation (walking, cycling, etc), local food markets, energy efficiency and raising awareness.