Is the West Street protected bike lane truly protected? Not so much, according to cyclists who are speaking out about what they consider unsafe conditions on the “protected bike lane” near the Greenpoint waterfront.
i had a little errand on Greenpoint’s #WestSt and discovered @FedEx uses the #bikenyc lane as the local parking lot. @NYPD94Pct, are you a partner in #VisionZero? pic.twitter.com/zMnOm0ScxU
— noel hidalgo
(@noneck) July 17, 2019
Streetsblog NY spoke with Jon Orcutt of Bike NY, who points to the curb that was originally designed to rise higher off of the road:
“It’s supposed to be curb-separated, but they buried the curb for several blocks. Even where the curb is not flush with the road, it’s still too low.”
Streetsblog continues to explain that the original plan for the West Street protected bike lane called for a raised curb for street separation:
Orcutt worked for the DOT a decade ago when the greenway was first being planned. “We designed it with a high curb separation,” he said. “It was supposed to be good. The plan was done around 2012, but what we see today is just lousy execution. It needs something more like planters or some stuff you’d really have to destroy to park on there.
“This should be a bike lane where you can take your kids, like Prospect Park West,” he said. “But you can’t because there are cars and trucks on there all the time.”
With 15 cyclist deaths so far in 2019, the number of NYC cyclist deaths has already surpassed 2018’s total and methods to increase bike safety are gaining attention.
Mayor de Blasio released a bicycle safe passage plan earlier this month focused on “preventing hazardous parking and moving infractions that interfere with the safe passage of cyclists.” The NYPD implemented the plan July 1st – July 21st, which included ticketing vehicles parked in bike lanes.
Officer Georgiou & all of our officers are busy addressing one of our community’s top concerns of vehicles obstructing the West St #Bikelane, & we won’t stop until every cyclist in #Greenpoint & #Williamsburg is able to safely ride their bike. #NYPDProtecting #bikenyc pic.twitter.com/84jdB4gqJW
— NYPD 94th Precinct (@NYPD94Pct) July 8, 2019
A study by Patch found that the NYPD has issued 14 percent fewer tickets to vehicles parked in bike lanes in 2019 through July 7th compared with the same period in 2018.
BREAKING: @NYC_DOT says it’s “looking at additional ways to enhance protection” on the unprotected West St. protected bike lane in Greenpoint. #bikenyc @jonorcutt
For the record, this is not CURRENTLY a protected bike lane (@GershKuntzman hand shows how flat the “barrier” is.) pic.twitter.com/d6juAPLwzI
— Streetsblog New York (@StreetsblogNYC) July 19, 2019
An Instagram account, West St Bike Lane, documents the frequent bike lane transgressions, where mail delivery trucks, box trucks, and cars of all kinds tend to park despite the “protected” status.
On Monday, the account posted an image of a box truck parked in front of 57 West St. that had apparently received tickets after multiple days parked in the lane.
This ‘bike-lane’ has been a parking lot for delivery trucks for some time (2+ years?); Rarely have I biked through this area without problem. Some form of enforcement must occur. It sets an awful example..
Hipsters can’t have it both ways. You are involved on both ends, ie too many bikes and getting everything on the planet earth delivered to your houses by these trucks.
Greenpoint can only hold so many bikes and delivery trucks.
Try more walking, taking busses and shopping in stores or picking up Amazon type items at a few central locations or by drone.