One Bike Lane To Rule Them All
How is it that one bike lane in New York may determine the future of cycling in a city? There is a bike lane in Brooklyn, on the border separating Prospect Park and Park Slope, bringing enough controversy that it get itself published on The New York Times front page. Residents have filed suit against The Big Apple over said lane – for reasons of dissatisfaction and potential hazards.
You see, Park Slope is what you would call a “well-to-do” neighborhood. And while the lesser fashionable (though still paying too much in rent) Prospect Park residents were all for these bike lane, those in Slope seem to be avidly against them. NY transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan approved the lanes, and her career may also be on the line.
Many bike-friendly residents of NYC support Sadik-Khan’s green initiatives throughout the boroughs – but if the high-income voters come down on Heir Mayor Bloomberg, he’ll take it out on his transportation commissioner. It may spell certain doom for future lanes.
Some Park Slopers have added that the bike lane (and those riding) add a new level of danger – and that accidents (even deaths) are going up. There seems to not only be a lack of supporting evidence, but as one letter to the editor in a recent NY Times states: “…fewer people have been killed in traffic accidents on New York’s streets than at any time in the past century, according to city records.” 2010 – 2011 also mark the highest amount of people riding in the city.
With more bikes on the roads of our Nation’s most heavily congested city, there’s bound to be extra close calls and doorings. But as long as drivers remain calm, and cyclists respect their own set of rules (Don’t ride against other cyclists, stop riding on the sidewalks, and read our post on sharing the road!) all city residents should be able to travel without incident: on foot, two wheels or four.
Source: The Guardian
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