Yeah, I totally agree with you on that one. Like I said, traffic norms in NYC are “different.”

Still, I do have concerns that some of the facilities may leave some newbie riders with a false sense of security particularly facilities that leave cyclist on the inside of turning cars that then make them vulnerable to hooks.

I’ve got over 20 years daily riding experience, so I was expecting the left hook 2 out of those 3 times (one of those times I was forced to kick the cab that did it in self defense since it was that close). The time I didn’t expect it was on the new Allen St lanes. Even though the driver could clearly see myself and the two other riders in front of me (and in front of her) waiting for the light, she gunned it a recklessly hooked us, thankfully without contact. I never thought that anyone would be that reckless around a group of casual cyclist (no roadies in our group) and I’ve got plenty of urban riding experience.

I guess that just leads me back to what Shemp said about riding in NYC.

Oh well.

I agree, they should be dead center. Last time I rode Thompson I was honked at while riding in the center. I glanced back at an automobile whose driver and sole occupant then yelled, “the bike lane’s on the left!” It’s not a bike ‘lane’, for obvious reasons. Normally I would ride nearer the sharrows, because why not, but that day I was riding next to my spouse. There is no room to be overtaken by a car no matter where you ride; the suggested position only gives raging motorists enough room to try to run others off the road.

So yes, center the markings please on the next repainting. Thompson should be made as nice as possible, to channel bicycle traffic from the west side to Grand Street and the Manhattan Bridge.

Towards the end one of the guys mentions traveling through a whole section of the West Side towards Soho or Tribeca etc without leaving a cycling facility, but what I am curious about is 1 – How long a trip takes/average speed, 2- How many times a cyclist stops on average and 3 – If DOT is considering any kind of Green Wave-type solution…

On the contrary philosophy-wise (no pun intended) regarding contra-flow, cyclists do it because it is shorter. (To paraphrase a well-known quote: “It’s shorter, stupid!”) The majority of streets in Manhattan are one-way, the new cycle lanes mirror or follow that, and so the shorter a trip is, the higher the proportion of it which could be faster if all the narrow crosstown streets and other narrow one-way streets were contraflow for cyclists and the major avenues were either bi-directionalised (ideal) or had two-way cycle facilities.

It would be great if someone did a computer simulation of this, focusing on time-savings (or “time-earnings”, i.e. going slower but reaching somewhere at the same time as with the current set up due to shorter distance travelled).

Andy B from Jersey
Thompson Street really is a one-lane street except for a few hours per week when alternate side of the street parking rules force drivers to clear one side or the other. Did DOT really believe cyclists would ride to the left?The only function I see in the Thompson Street sharrows is that it makes motorists more aware that bicycles use that route – that is, if most drivers actually know what a sharrow means.

While in town for the Walk 21 Conference I was nearly left hooked 3 times by drivers who overtook me at the last moment at intersections while riding in left side bike lanes. I understand that driving in NYC is truely and completely “different” then anywhere else but this continues to be a real problem in my eyes. Three of us on the APBP NYC bicycle facility tour were nearly hooked by a driver on the new center median lanes on Allen Street even though we were in front of driver for some time as we waited for the light to change.

Also, I really like NYCDoT’s bold use of sharrows and fell that they really help in most locations where DoT has installed them. However, I personally feel the sharrow markings on Thompson St could have easily been better placed. When I rode those for the first time I immediately felt that they unnecessarily put me in the door zone. If the travel lane is too narrow for a car to pass a cyclist anyway why put the sharrows so close to parked cars? Yeah if all the cars are parked correctly and you ride your bike in the center of the sharrow everything should be fine but that is not a real life situation. Those sharrows on Thompson might be better if they are placed more than 11ft from the curb. Maybe something like 1/3 the way across the lane from that left white stripe, so the right side of the sharrow is just to the left of the center of the lane.

That’s my 2cents. Otherwise keep up the good work. It’s nice to ride in an American city that is finally starting to have something of a comprehensive bicycle network.

Eeeeep! That looks mighty dangerous. I’d never want to ride in the middle of a one way road like that. Now on a two-way Street in the middle (like to DOT is doing on Allen Street) it looks like in that case it will work very well.

Once again I’ll plug my own bike lane design, which I think would work on a wide, one-way Avenue that is not slated to undergo major physical changes, but that DOT would like to make more bike-friendly:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10798592@N08/1414440531/

While I can understand your feeling that ‘once you’ve mastered riding in traffic, these sorts of facilities are not that valuable,’ even sharrows do create much safer routes for you as well. Both by alerting cars to your presence and space rights, and by slowing traffic through narrower car corridors. And the more people on bikes, the safer each bike will be.

I’ve found bike lane areas to be as maintained as other street areas in NYC…some places are good, others aren’t.

-v

As someone who has developed strong street cycling skills, I might find these facilities very confusing. But I also understand that they have great appeal to slower, less educated, more fearful cyclists.

Is the city doing a good job of sweeping or otherwise maintaining the new bike facilities?

Why is it so hard to accept that a minimum road width (wider than Grand Street) should be required for a protected lane?

Because the minimum road width has nothing to do with the bike lane. It has to do with double-parking.