[W. K. Lis]

Fifth Avenue (NYC) loses sidewalk for more lanes of traffic

This image of Fifth Avenue unearthed by the Times' Jennifer 8. Lee is a fascinating relic from the dawn of the motoring age. The new geometry pictured here nicked 15 feet of sidewalk from pedestrians to make room for two traffic lanes. In one fell swoop, the balance of space shifted dramatically: Two 30-foot sidewalks and a 40-foot roadway became 22½-foot sidewalks and a 55-foot roadway. The insets show the sort of "imperfections" slated for elimination on the auto-friendly Fifth Avenue: terraces, stoops, gardens -- the type of amenities that make streets more than simply thoroughfares to pass through.

From N.Y.Times.

What the city giveth, the city taketh away — at least with regard to the balance of power between pedestrians and automobiles. The Bloomberg administration has been trying to tame vehicles with bike lanes, the pedestrianization of Broadway and the failed congestion-pricing initiative. But a century ago, just the opposite was happening. The city was cutting back sidewalks to make room for the increasingly popular automobile, which was displacing the horse and carriage and even people on foot.

The New York Times ran an extensive article on June 27, 1909, on how Fifth Avenue — then effectively only one lane of traffic in each direction — lost seven and a half feet of sidewalk on each side and gained an extra lane of roadway in each direction from 25th to 47th Streets. Stoops, gardens, courtyards — all had to be refashioned for the asphalt. Big losses were suffered by a number of churches, and by the Waldorf Hotel, which had a 15-foot-wide sunken garden. Until then, Fifth Avenue had glorious 30-foot-wide sidewalks.

“Nineteenth-century planners saw our streets as promenades, and many sidewalks were twice as wide as they are today,†said Wiley Norvell of Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy organization.

But the promenades were gradually nibbled away by urban planners. “The rationale was that pedestrians didn’t need much space to walk, whereas cars needed a lot of open asphalt to move freely,†Mr. Norvell said.

But in its PlaNYC, the Bloomberg administration had a new rationale. As of Tuesday, the Department of Transportation will have added 200 miles of new bike lanes within a span of three years — much of that stolen back from the automobile.

 

[Design Wallah]

I live in Toronto and New York City and as far as bike lanes go, the Big Apple is establishing a wide gap in terms of what it provides.

Three years ago when I'd bike to work I'd have to jostle through traffic. At red lights at rush hour there might be two or three other cyclists. These days, before 9 and after 5pm bikes are sometimes backed up waiting for the light to change.

For instance this morning, at 14th and 1st, I waited with about ten other cyclists for a green light. There's no bike lane on 1st yet but the Bloomberg administration has made the city bike-friendly enough that more riders are on the street and even on routes without dedicated paths riders can command an entire lane.

I don't get why this hasn't happened in Toronto yet. I love riding along the waterfront but biking to meetings downtown can be scary. A month ago, on a rainy morning, I crossed a streetcar rail at the wrong angle and flipped over my handlebar.

Compared to NYC, Montreal and Vancouver this city is lagging behind.

I applaud the work of the city's cycling activists. I wish merchants along main streets could be persuaded that less parking and more bike lanes are good for business.

 

[Tewder]

Where does the money come from? Have you seen the condition of the sidewalks and roads? Are you aware of the deplorable inadequacy of public transit in this city?...

Nobody is disputing the desirability of bike lanes, whether for 10 cyclists at a time or hundreds but it's all about priorities and level of need. The needs of so many more will be addressed when we prioritize funds to the refurbishment of our streets and the expansion of mass transit. Once done we should definitely be looking at bike lanes, but when your house is falling down you don't buy new curtains!

 

[Design Wallah]

Sorry Tewder, not buying it.

Toronto needs more public transit (and more efficient public transit, like the proposed downtown relief line), but creating some bike lanes doesn't cost much money. And I don't think streets ought to be "refurbished" unless they have space for bike lanes.

As more people move into the core, we need these lanes (and transit) more than ever. It's about accommodating greater density, promoting healthier living and creating a greener environment.

I think changes towards more bike-friendly planning will occur naturally, but there's a strong rear-guard action being fought by car advocates.

For a demonstration on how easy it is to promote urban biking, check this out:

From the NYTIMES:

Traffic on Park Avenue may seem lighter in August than in much of the year, thanks to the summering habits of its well-to-do residents. But much of the boulevard will have no traffic at all on three Saturdays this summer, as the city shuts down 6.9 miles of Manhattan roadway in a reprise of last year’s Summer Streets program.
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In its debut last August, the program attracted about 50,000 bicyclists and pedestrians on each of its three days to a path from the Brooklyn Bridge to East 72nd Street. This year’s events, announced on Monday by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, will take place on Aug. 8, 15 and 22, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Citing a positive response to the program — an idea inspired by a recreational experiment in Bogotá, Colombia, that began in the 1970s — the city has expanded it to smaller stretches of the other boroughs on weekends throughout the summer. The program will reach 13 neighborhoods, although none of the additional street closings will match the size of the main Manhattan route.

The closings will be staggered. For example, five blocks of Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, will be closed to cars and trucks the next two Saturdays, while a stretch of Van Duzer Street in Staten Island will be closed on Aug. 1, 8, 15 and 22. A list of the closings can be found on the city’s Web site.

At the Park Avenue event, the city will rent out 150 bright-orange bicycles, on loan from the Dutch government and available at points along the route. Helmets will also be provided.

The project is one in a series of initiatives by the city’s transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, that have banned automobiles from swaths of Manhattan. Public space has been opened up in Times Square and Herald Square and along Broadway and Ninth Avenue.

Ms. Sadik-Khan said on Monday that she hoped the Summer Streets program would become a regular event for New Yorkers, “right up there with the New York City Marathon and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.â€

Mr. Bloomberg, at a news conference announcing the program, demurred when asked if he would join the bicyclists in August. “We’ll see,†he said. “Last time I bought a bike I got criticized.â€

The mayor was chided in 2002 after buying a bicycle, helmet and other accessories for $663 when a subway and bus strike appeared imminent. (He later gave the bike to a teenager in Brooklyn.)

 

[W. K. Lis]

A Walkable, Bikeable Gateway to the Brooklyn Bridge

The proposed boulevard-style entryway to the Brooklyn Bridge. Image: NYCDOT.

Last week DOT unveiled this conceptual plan for a better gateway to the Brooklyn Bridge [PDF]. For the thousands of pedestrians and cyclists who access the bridge on the Brooklyn-side every day, it's a winner.

Presented at a public meeting in downtown Brooklyn, the new design features a more generous, boulevard-style bike-ped access ramp to the bridge, plus wider medians and sidewalks, curb extensions, and separated bike lanes on each of the three approaches to the ramp. If implemented, the proposal would greatly improve safety at one of the most complex, heavily-trafficked intersections in the city

From Streetblog New York City.

The intersection of Adams and Tillary in DOT's concept plan. The foot of the Brooklyn Bridge access ramp is at the top of the picture. Proposed additions and enhancements to ped/bike areas are shaded lighter than existing sidewalk. For a look at the existing conditions and the full plan, see this PDF.

 

[Glen]

As more people move into the core, we need these lanes (and transit) more than ever. It's about accommodating greater density, promoting healthier living and creating a greener environment.

This is where the Toronto - NY comparisons fail. Toronto is adding a lot of new residents to the core. It is the jobs that are not materializing. Look at the wards in the core , 20, 27 and 28. Between 1989 and 2004 they lost 26,404 employment positions. At the same time there was an increase in the number of residents. Between 1991 and 2001 the percentage of residents in these wards whom commuted outside of the city to work increased by 14.3%.

 

[Condo Queen]

Is the City trying to discourage automobile useage downtown by making it impossible to get there?

 

[greenleaf]

Is the City trying to discourage automobile useage downtown by making it impossible to get there?

The city is trying to level the playing field in its treatment of bikes and pedestrians as compared to cars (as it should).

I would say that the city is encouraging alternative means of transit, rather than discouraging car use.

 

[Dilla]

This is where the Toronto - NY comparisons fail. Toronto is adding a lot of new residents to the core. It is the jobs that are not materializing. Look at the wards in the core , 20, 27 and 28. Between 1989 and 2004 they lost 26,404 employment positions. At the same time there was an increase in the number of residents. Between 1991 and 2001 the percentage of residents in these wards whom commuted outside of the city to work increased by 14.3%.

Good god, man. Are you always on?

You know for sure nothing similar is happening in NY?

 

[Tewder]

Toronto needs more public transit (and more efficient public transit, like the proposed downtown relief line), but creating some bike lanes doesn't cost much money.

... something to the tune of $70 million for the proposed bike lane network I believe? Nothing to sneeze at! How many other 'false' priorities are being funded, not because they offer the best for the most people but because they offer good 'pr' for the Mayor who gets to appease powerful minority interest groups? For a city that claims to be broke these numbers are significant, no?

And I don't think streets ought to be "refurbished" unless they have space for bike lanes.

As more people move into the core, we need these lanes (and transit) more than ever. It's about accommodating greater density, promoting healthier living and creating a greener environment.

... but the flaw to your stance is that you are essentially making bike lanes the a priori top priority on which all other city planning is based (i.e. no improved streets without bike lanes). As already established in this thread only a tiny percentage of Torontonians will ever use a bike as their main daily mode of transportation, and only a small percentage again will ever use a bike in inclement weather or during Toronto's very long winter (whether for transportation or leisure). To govern city planning on this is simply pandering.

Again, I'm not against bike lanes, they have their place in many areas, but reactionary policies to appease strongly-mobilized interest groups are not doing this city any favours as the infrastructure literally crumbles away. The 'healthier living' you talk of is far better encouraged through the development and expansion of public transit, public greening through parks and tree canopies along major thoroughfares, and a healthy revitalized waterfront. Bike lanes do fit into some of these scenarios but they are part of the picture and not the whole picture itself.

I think changes towards more bike-friendly planning will occur naturally, but there's a strong rear-guard action being fought by car advocates.

This is where I do agree with you. For long term sustainability we have to be looking at reasonable alternatives to the car. However, this can only happen if we are actively developing mass transit: stigmatizing the car by trying to get everybody to bike to work just doesn't make any sense at all

For a demonstration on how easy it is to promote urban biking, check this out:

Try this experiment in February and see how many turn out... and people will come out en mass for a marathon too but it doesn't mean they will opt to run to work on a daily basis as their main means of transport. Bottom line: this simply isn't a reasonable indication of how truly sustainable an option the bike is for most people on a day to day basis.

 

[Chuck]

The city is trying to level the playing field in its treatment of bikes and pedestrians as compared to cars (as it should).

For Toronto, "level the playing field" means making it equally difficult to get around no matter what mode you use.

Although I do agree that the healthiest streets are those in which all modes of transportation have a presence, I also think that there's nothing wrong with tipping the scales slightly toward one particular mode, where appropriate, in order to speed up travel times.

For instance, Avenue Road, Jarvis, Adelaide and Richmond can carry a lot of cars. Just leave them be, and give drivers a quick way of getting downtown without infiltrating local streets. Queen and King in particular carry huge volumes of commuters on streetcars. Give more priority to streetcars by removing privileges and road space from cars. Yonge - not Jarvis! - is a major pedestrian and cycling corridor. Narrow the driving space on Yonge by 50%, but create 2m wide bike lanes in each direction and wider sidewalks. Let those extra cars pile onto one of the above 5-6 lane roads which have spare capacity. Only once we've built more subway can we consider turning those 5-6 lane roads into 3-4 or 4-5 lane roads. Otherwise, it's irresponsible.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

... something to the tune of $70 million for the proposed bike lane network I believe? Nothing to sneeze at! How many other 'false' priorities are being funded, not because they offer the best for the most people but because they offer good 'pr' for the Mayor who gets to appease powerful minority interest groups? For a city that claims to be broke these numbers are significant, no?

I agree, significant indeed. Keep in mind that the 1200km bike network within the City of Toronto was approved in 2001 and was planned for completion in 2010, the deadline obviously won't be met. This isn't just repainting lines on roadways but many more complex projects such as the safe reconfiguration of the Martin Goodman Trail through Ontario Place, for example.

 

[Tewder]

I agree that bike lanes should be part of the bigger picture and I look forward to a city with a gorgeous waterfront, beautiful parks, greened streetscapes, an extensive and efficient public transit system, and bike lanes everywhere. These are all great objectives, and they are not simply desirable but necessary if we are serious about freeing ourselves from the ills of the car in a congested city... so, maybe I need to retract part of my position in the sense that the refurbishment of streets and roads should probably include bike lanes where it makes sense. No use in repairing roads now only to go back to them later to install bike lanes, after all.

 

[GraphicMatt]

Hey, fun topic. Look at all this arguing.

Construction of the Jarvis Street bike lanes starts on Friday: http://www.citytv.com/toronto/cityn...nstruction-of-jarvis-bike-lanes-begins-friday

The reversible centre lane will be dead as of this weekend.

City of Toronto workers will begin installing two much-debated bike lanes on Jarvis St. this Friday.

The northbound and southbound lanes – approved by city council last year – will run from Queen St. E. to Charles St. and will shrink Jarvis from five lanes to four.

The work will continue until late July and involve partial road closures and lane reductions.

Here is a summary of the planned work:

Friday, July 16
Remove pay-and-display parking machines and install no-stopping regulations on the roadway.
Remove centre reversible lane

Saturday, July 17 or Sunday, July 18 (weather permitting)
Install temporary pavement markings to indicate the closure of the centre lane. This work will take place during the evening.

Week of July 19
Pre-mark bike lanes and remove reversible lane hardware and signs.

Saturday, July 24 and/or Sunday, July 25 (weather permitting)
Rolling closures of parts of Jarvis to install new bike lane markings and remove existing markings.

Week of July 26
The bicycle and diamond symbols will be installed in the bike lanes. Some curb lane closures in off-peak hours.

 

[Towered]

Yay! Another victory for urbanity.