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whither the 5th avenue bike lanes? — Brooklynian

whither the 5th avenue bike lanes?

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Comments

  • meredithb
    meredithb
    There needs to be more loading zones. That truck in the picture wouldn't fit curbside anyway and it will always double-park.

    Yeah, drivers need to be more aware that there are bicyclists out there and give us some room to their right to get by so sharrows aren't such a bad compromise IMO.
  • hitokiri
    hitokiri
    get rid of the lane altogether.

    I always see bikers doing whatever they please anyway.
  • j0518
    j0518
    Is 5th Avenue really the right space for a dedicated bike lane, though? Just too busy and narrow a street. It just seems worse for everyone involved.
  • vidro3
    vidro3
    J0518 wrote: Is 5th Avenue really the right space for a dedicated bike lane, though? Just too busy and narrow a street. It just seems worse for everyone involved.
    5th may not be ideal, but i don't think other avenues are any better. 6th ave is narrower, 4th and 8th are much busier, faster traffic, and 7th would have more or less the same problems as 5th.
  • vidro3
    vidro3
    MeredithB wrote:

    Yeah, drivers need to be more aware that there are bicyclists out there and give us some room to their right to get by so sharrows aren't such a bad compromise IMO.
    I'm not quite sure I follow this point. I think sharrows would result in double parkers sitting closer to the curb forcing bikers to pass them on the left.
  • flo
    flo
    I'm sorry. Bike lane or no bike lane, the BID leader comes off like a bit of an idiot in that report. She supports a bike lane on 4th Ave? Around the corner from her restaurant? Fascinating. That does sound like a compromise.

    I'd love to see some stats on how many cars/trucks have actually been ticketed for blocking the bike lane. Unloading trucks, I would guess, have a problem with access to businesses because of the volume of parked cars on 5th, not because of cyclists.
  • meredithb
    meredithb
    vidro3 wrote: I'm not quite sure I follow this point. I think sharrows would result in double parkers sitting closer to the curb forcing bikers to pass them on the left.
    Maybe, who knows, could be.

    And I agree with hitokiri, bicyclist do what they want anyway.

    And 5th ave between 6th street upwards is a anarchistic madhouse anyway.
  • scottb2k
    scottb2k
    When I start seeing bikers stopping at red lights and waiting for the green then I'll start caring about cars and trucks violating the rules of bike lanes.
  • vidro3
    vidro3
    scottb2k wrote: When I start seeing bikers stopping at red lights and waiting for the green then I'll start caring about cars and trucks violating the rules of bike lanes.
    when I see cars and trucks obeying the speed limit, stop signs, red lights, and parking laws, then I'll start caring about stopping bikers from going through a red light.
  • swngnmonk
    swngnmonk

    Subject: seems like a parking problem, not a bike lane problem

    I don't understand where the BID leader is coming from - what does the bike lane have to do with the parking problem on 5th avenue?
    • No parking spots were eliminated when the lanes were created.

      Double parking was illegal before.

      Double parking continues to be illegal.

      Tickets might be getting written for obstructing a bike lane rather than double parking, but what's the difference?
    Seems to me like the problem is that we're facing a bad economy like nothing we've seen in 20+ years. Doesn't seem like a problem with bike lanes at all.

    Perhaps the BID leader should be asking the DOT for help in rationalizing parking policy with respect to sane loading/unloading areas for deliveries.

    And who drives to a restaurant in Park Slope anyways?
  • swngnmonk
    swngnmonk
    A side note, because someone mentioned sharrows before - they're effectively useless. It just means the aggressive driver in the car behind you is mildly aware of your right to be there, and then will honk prior to attempting to pass you with inches of clearance while flipping you off.

    Try riding a bicycle down the section of 5th ave between Union & Flatbush sometime, and you'll see what I mean.
  • booklaw
    booklaw
    5th Avenue is a nightmare. Double parked cars, pedestrians crossing the avenue every which way, and strolling in the street, buses with bloodlust... bike lanes on 5th Avenue would be totally ignored!
  • dw438
    dw438
    It would be more effective to have a bike lane on 6th Avenue. Mostly residential, not commercial. 5th Avenue for its length has too much going on. A dedicated bike lane on 5th would be worse - full of delivery trucks, livery cabs and others.
  • booklaw
    booklaw
    agreed!
  • vidro3
    vidro3
    booklaw wrote: 5th Avenue is a nightmare. Double parked cars, pedestrians crossing the avenue every which way, and strolling in the street, buses with bloodlust... bike lanes on 5th Avenue would be totally ignored!
    the bike lanes have been there for about 5 years already.
  • booklaw
    booklaw
    See... they're ignored! Actually, I've ridden in those bike lanes, and have been doored in those bike lanes. It really is a nightmare.
  • danny hellman
    danny hellman
    Fuck "sharrows." We need dedicated bike lanes, more speed bumps, two way streets converted back into one way streets, traffic calming, smaller cars, slower cars, electric cars, and the end of the automobile as the centerpiece of our doomed civilization.
  • swngnmonk
    swngnmonk
    dw438 wrote: It would be more effective to have a bike lane on 6th Avenue. Mostly residential, not commercial. 5th Avenue for its length has too much going on. A dedicated bike lane on 5th would be worse - full of delivery trucks, livery cabs and others.
    1. 5th avenue already has a dedicated bike lane.

    2. 6th avenue is too narrow for dedicated bike lanes in both directions.

    The bike lane is already in place, heavily used, and extremely popular (Park Slope has one of the highest rates of bike usage in the city). No need to make changes given this little brouhaha, which still has nothing to do with the bike lanes.
  • danny hellman
    danny hellman
    A bike lane doesn't mean squat unless there's a little concrete divider to keep the cars out of it.
  • flo
    flo
    http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/06/11/fifth-ave-merchants-delivery-problems-have-nothing-to-do-with-bike-lane/

    Streetsblog did a follow-up piece on this, talking to some merchants about whether or not they felt the bikelane actually effects deliveries or ticketing rates.
  • meredithb
    meredithb
    wow I went to high school with Emily. Crazy.
  • vidro3
    vidro3
    thanks for the update. it was pretty obvious that delivery problems had nothing to do with the bike lanes and that the lanes were merely a scapegoat.
  • flynn
    flynn
    i am an avid biker and ride a lot on 5th ave. the street is just not right for a bike lane. at certain spots the lane becomes too narrow. i always ride in traffic on 5th ave to avoid being doored or running into some idiot driver who cuts me off to double park in the bike lane. others may want to try the same.
  • drummachines
    drummachines
    I'm also a dedicated cyclist and I feel the 5th Avenue lanes are altoghether a joke. There are always trucks parking in the lane anyway, and as Flynn says, 5th sometimes is so narrow that the lane doesn't really make any sense.....

    I say make 5th Avenue a one way street.
  • ringrunner
    ringrunner
    There is a "No Standing" Zone in front of the Key Food on 7th Ave. So trucks can unload. Maybe we need more of these on 7 Ave and 5 Ave?
  • eggcream
    eggcream
    vidro3 wrote: thanks for the update. it was pretty obvious that delivery problems had nothing to do with the bike lanes and that the lanes were merely a scapegoat.
    why, because he interviewed 3 people?
  • vidro3
    vidro3
    eggcream wrote: [quote=vidro3]thanks for the update. it was pretty obvious that delivery problems had nothing to do with the bike lanes and that the lanes were merely a scapegoat.
    why, because he interviewed 3 people?

    well that plus it just doesn't make any logical sense to begin with.
  • vidro3
    vidro3
    Update from Streetsblog.com
    http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/06/23/dot-responds-to-5th-ave-bike-lane-uprising-with-thermoplast-surge/

    DOT is repainting the bike lanes
  • meredithb
    meredithb
    Have you seen the markings on the Brooklyn Bridge lately? Almost non-existent in some areas. A tourist is going to get creamed one of these days.
  • vidro3
    vidro3
    They should just give the tourists a traffic lane and let bikers have the whole path. or vice versa
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