350 Pro, 75 Against Bike Lane at Dueling Park Slope Rallies

Eric McClure of Park Slope Neighbors spearheaded this morning’s rally in support of the bike lane on Prospect Park West. According to McClure: “The relative size of the two events this morning — about 350 people at our rally and about 75 at the protest — once again demonstrates that there really isn’t a “controversy” over the calming of traffic and addition of a bike path to Prospect Park West.”

In an email interview, McClure said that he believes the redesign of Prospect Park is favored by most Park Slopers. “While the empirical data clearly supports the project — our radar study revealed a 25% drop in average speeds and an 80% reduction in drivers exceeding the speed limit, figures that we’re confident will be confirmed by the Department of Transportation’s own measurements — it’s also clear that when it comes to a popularity contest, the redesign of Prospect Park West is a clear winner.”

A survey put out by the offices of Councilmembers Brad Lander and Steve Levin should further help determine the community’s opinion of the changes on Prospect Park West.

10 thoughts on “350 Pro, 75 Against Bike Lane at Dueling Park Slope Rallies”

  1. I don’t think it is all about speed either… I understand too that many people won’t care about the “fact” that the lanes are not wide enough to accomodate the flow of traffic in a manner that will limit the results of sideswipes and collisions, afford emergency vehicles adequate room for maneuver, and the visibility pedestrians, bikers, and drivers need to travel safely.

  2. To Steve – I certainly did not to intend to “stereotype” anyone who attended the protest as not having a job. I was saying that I wish I could have attended but I could not because of my job’s requirements and by that meant that just because I wasn’t able to attend the protest should not be mistaken to mean that I didn’t care about the issue. That’s all I meant and apologize for any misunderstanding.

    Honestly I’m a bit frustrated with the questioning here of the concept of “facts” vs. anecdotal evidence – are you saying that I didn’t see all the accidents that I’ve seen??? I know what I’ve seen. Actually I was contacted by the police to follow on one of the accidents. The insurance claims and police reports will speak for themselves over time. I am confident of that.

    Saying that the speed is slower on “average” is indeed a fact but a partial fact. I can assure you that not all the vehicles are going less than 30mph all the time — but I realize that until someone gets hurt and we can see the increase in insurance claims and police reports to confirm incidents – many won’t care about that fact until it’s too late.

  3. Thanks for the feedback – appreciate your thoughts but we’ll have to agree to disagree – I don’t believe the visibility, congestion and lane room on the newly configured PPW can be described as straw men at all – You are absolutely right that the roadways in NYC can be very challenging to navigate as pedestrians, bike riders or drivers – but that doesn’t mean that we have to accept changes to roadways that increase the number of collisions. Personally, I am confident that insurance claims and police reports of fender benders and side-swipes will be up from the pre-reconfiguration period. I will certainly be following it myself to see if I’m correct. According to the DOT plans there 58 reported crashes from 2005-2007. I hope I prove to be wrong and just overreacting to the changes that have been made but I have my doubts.

    So I’d suppose that for the snow removal we’ll have 3 passes by the trucks — 1 for the bike lane and two for traveling lanes down PPW – it surely will be interesting to get into the park this winter!

    With due respect Felicia – PPW was a local street before the reconfiguration and is still a local street — The DOT’s plans to make the change was based on an underlying assumption that “traffic voloume does not warrant 3 travel lanes” (each travel lane accommodates 600-700+ vehicles per hour) according to one of the plans I looked into – http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/prospectpark_west.pdf.

    The report also acknowledges loss of 2 parking spots per light signal intersections – clearly quite a few lost parking spots actually. In any case – I would never have described PPW as a highway myself. I also have not claimed that the traffic flow has changed in volume — it hasn’t appeared to yet — what has changed is the same flow making its way through significantly less space – 10′ travel lanes (from 12′ prior) leaving 7′ parking lane on the non-park side (seems very tight to me – and it was on the on the non-park side I’ve seen the mirror’s swiped off) – When I say “congestion” maybe I’m wrong but I’m referring to the same volume of traffic going through a smaller space You are right that moving slower doesn’t have to equal congestion but when the volume picks up because of double parked trucks/cars and parking cars the lanes will get blocked from time to time – with little movement and it is those incidents that I’m also referring to as “congestion.”

  4. Slower does equal safer and your anecdotal evidence that you have seen more accidents since the bike lane is not convincing. The point is that PPW is a local street, not a highway. There is no loss of parking, but the new geometry is causing cars to go slower — this is a benefit because cars should be anticipating pedestrians crossing. I live on PPW and don’t ride a bike, and I think this geometry is truly a benefit for the neighborhood. Also, cars moving slower on PPW does not mean there is now congestion. The level of service I’m sure is unchanged.

  5. Visibility, congestion and room are straw men. Have these drivers never driven in much of Manhattan or even BH? Narrow streets. Cars and trucks parked up to intersections. Gridlock.

    It’s a basic rule of the road…to go as fast as is safe. If any driver cannot negotiate an open, wide-laned thruway like PPW, they should not be driving, period. The only reason you may have seen more accidents since the change is that so many drivers are entitled speeders.

    As for snow removal, a plow could go down the bike lanes. It about 12′ wide with the painted separator.

  6. Disagree with your logic chandru – the cars are moving at a slower pace for some of the time these days – the goal of the project. My point is that even with the new slower pace of traffic flow, there is less visibility and room for manuever with the new lane structure — raising the odds on collisions of some nature. The accidents I saw were at very slow speeds – there is just too much congestion and not enough room — make PPW a single lane (???) with a two parking lanes and ample room for the bikes. I don’t think so. The DOT says this plan is a “success” because traffic is slower — I am just saying “slower” doesn’t me “safer” – we may be arguing two different points.

    Another thought struck me this morning walking to work — what are they planning to do for snow removal? Park lanes will be full of snow as will the bike lanes — It will be interesting to see.

  7. Also, why fault the pro side for being so well organized? The internet, emails, Twitter, Facebook…these things are available to anyone who chooses to use them and one side used them well. And besides, people didn’t show up on a brisk Thursday morning just because it sounded fun. They came because they supported the project. Most people lived in the neighborhood and are as concerned about safety as you. They just rely on things such as facts and figures and not anecdotal experiences.

    I work. I don’t have to be there until 9:30, so attending today was no big deal. I’m lucky to have a job, too. Stop stereotyping people who don’t agree with you.

  8. >I’ve personally seen 5 accidents since the lanes have been put in and that is more than the 3 I saw over the past 20yrs I’ve lived on PPW.

    So let’s this logic straight. The bike lanes make is exponentially safer for bikers. They slow down traffic dramatically. They are an excellent design.

    But because some idiot drivers who cannot abide to be slowed down act irrationally/illegally and cause accidents, there’s a problem with the concept? By that token, we should just pave over the entire space between the Park and the buildings and have 7 lanes of traffic. There will be no accidents (at least car ones) then…

  9. 25% drop in speed – 80% reduction in drivers exceeding the speed limit does not equal safer.

    I’ve personally seen 5 accidents since the lanes have been put in and that is more than the 3 I saw over the past 20yrs I’ve lived on PPW. 2 of the 3 occurred after they put the traffic lights in — another effort to “slowing” traffic. The 2 cars were rushing to get through a light and ended up crashing into our building! Slow motion accidents – front-ends/back ends crushed, doors sideswiped, mirror hit off – damage nonetheless!

    Supposed start time of 8:30am for the opponents vs. 8:00am for proponents — when was your count for the 350 vs. 75 (I saw more than 75 on the opponents side and a good deal less that 350 then I walked past — around 8:15am rushing to work — how I wish I could have taken time off to participate on the proponent side — I’m lucky to have a job and it just wasn’t possible. The pro-lane side was very organized and has been for months if not years…. the anti-lane side is truly grass roots with very little organization — Personally I was impressed with the number of opponents that were there and thankful for those who could make the time.

  10. The rally was Park Slope Rad. Moms, Dads, kids with signs like, “I {heart} my PPW bike lane” and Fox News was there promptly at 8am. Impressive number of bikers, folks with dogs, all very cheerful and definitely a presence. Eric was fantastic. I believe there will be footage on Fox Five tonight. Go Park Slope!!!

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