Comments on: CB 3 Supports DOT’s Manhattan Bridge Proposal

By: Geck

Geck — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:22:42 +0000

I do hope DOT considers a Tillary Street type two way lane on the East side of Chrystie separated from traffic by a barrier. That would still allow two lanes of car/truck traffic in each direction, parking on the West side and a real bike lane that won’t merely become more unenforced paint on the street.

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:09:11 +0000

OH! THAT’S why the Bleecker bike lane is striped to go across the Bowery through the middle of the intersection. That’s really simple, I’m not sure why I never figured it out before.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:15:01 +0000

Sorry, by “continue on Bleecker” I meant, of course, continue on E. 2nd Street.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:14:27 +0000

Josh: Continue on Bleecker east to 2nd Avenue. Take 2nd Avenue south. It becomes Chrystie Street (soon to get a bike lane) and feeds into the bridge entrance. Voila!

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:26:02 +0000

Ha! Thanks, but still, I don’t like using that kind of language.

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:19:00 +0000

(The entrance/exit setup is asinine, I mean, not the apology.)

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:18:27 +0000

Don’t apologize. It’s asinine.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:06:18 +0000

I apologize for using the word “asinine” to describe current bridge entrance/exit (the separated bike lane on Canal between Forsyth and Chrystie) in my previous post. It wasn’t fair to pass judgment without knowing all the factors that had to be considered in the design process, and it was rude to use that language.

“Bureaucrat” pointed out that the parking lanes are probably 8 ft. wide to accommodate trucks. That’s a good point. RE: my point #4, will there be a buffer? So many bike lanes just have two stripes of paint that are 5 ft. from each other.

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:13:12 +0000

So, hypothetically, once this is done, if I’m riding East across town on Bleecker Street and get to the end at Bowery, how do I get from Bleecker and Bowery to the Manhattan Bridge?

(For that matter, what’s the best way to do that now? I usually ride straight down Bowery but that can’t really be the best way, can it?)

By: Car Free Nation

Car Free Nation — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:25:25 +0000

It’s too bad they don’t have a protected lane. If it’s anything like Adams street on the other side, the bike lane will be blocked by cars anyway…

Why doesn’t the police do any enforcement on Adams Street, anyway?

By: bureaucrat

bureaucrat — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:17:10 +0000

Nick, some thoughts:
3: They probably need to be 8 feet because there is commercial loading activity, not just typical passenger car parking.

4: Agree. But remember that the buffers essentially add 3 feet to the lanes, so they may as well be 8′.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:33:35 +0000

The language doesn’t necessarily preclude protected lanes, does it?

A few questions/comments:

1. At the meeting, was the entrance/exit on the bridge discussed? The current setup is asinine.

2. If traffic-calming is a goal, the motor vehicle lanes should be reduced to 10 feet or even 9 feet.

3. The parking lanes don’t need to be 8 feet — why not 7?

4. The bike lanes should be wider than 5 feet — maybe 6 feet. This makes a huge difference; in Copenhagen, the bike lanes are about 6-7 feet wide (they vary), and you really feel the difference.

5. If protected bike lanes are still in the cards on this stretch of road, I hope they don’t over-design them. All that’s needed is a curb, something like what’s used at the end of spaces in some parking lots. Also, ENFORCEMENT.

6. What was the overall tone of the meeting? How else did it go?

By: mike

mike — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:13:42 +0000

Fantastic! Too bad they didn’t ask for the protected lane though.