Monday, November 22, 2010

Today in bike lane grumbling



The Times has a piece titled Expansion of Bike Lanes Brings Backlash. To the story!

The City Council will hold a hearing on bicycling on Dec. 2 to address balancing the needs of cyclists with those of other road users, said Councilman James Vacca, the chairman of the Transportation Committee. The hearing will also look at how well the Transportation Department has worked with community boards to review large-scale road changes.

Meanwhile, the Police Department and the Transportation Department have begun a crackdown on bicycle-related traffic violations amid complaints from some pedestrians.

Surging bike ridership has created a simmering cultural conflict between competing notions of urban transportation. Many New Yorkers object to bicycle lanes as sudden, drastic changes to their coveted concrete front yards.

“He’s taking away my rights as a driver,” Leslie Sicklick, 45, said of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Ms. Sicklick, a dog walker and substitute teacher, grew up driving with her father around the Lower East Side, where she still lives.

She organized a protest in the East Village last month, and she and at least two groups of opponents are planning new rallies against local bicycle lanes. They have discussed joining up for one large protest, though none has been planned. “To me, Union Square is a perfect place to do the protest,” Ms. Sicklick said, “because it’s one of the worst areas created by the new bike lanes.”


Read the whole story here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Protest planned for reconfigured Avenues (153 comments)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Leslie Sicklick is moving past being an amusing curiosity and turning into a boorish gadfly.

I hate bike salmons as much as the next pedestrian, but I hate careless/angry/inattentive car drivers even more.

At least a bicycle isn't too likely to kill, maim, or paralyze me, but I can't say the same for drivers that force their cars through the crosswalk.

That said, I still find Leslie Sicklick and other full-time whiners to be way, way, way more annoying than having to watch out for traffic.

blue glass said...

car drivers can't drive on the sidewalk when a bike is in their lane. they must stay out of the bus lane and the bike lane or they can get a ticket.
while cars have more force, i have a permanently bad knee from being knocked down by a bicycle a long time ago.
i applaud folks riding bicycles, the ecology of it and all that - their riding all over the place, their blatant disregard of traffic laws, and their lack of consideration for others - wipes out the goodness of biking. i would hope for licensing bikers and ticketing them for breaking the traffic rules. pedestrians, skate board users and all moving people/vehicles should also be ticketed.
this hostilitiy does not extend to those bikers that use the lanes, obey the lights, lane directions, etc. there are not enough of you.

Media glut said...

The wheel was created by Satan.

Red said...

For more bike lane saturation!

Here is the Wall Street Journal with a well-written piece on how everyone is adjusting, or not adjusting, to the lanes and the need for more education and "not being a jerk" everywhere. Includes some interviews with CB2.

And here is pro-bike Streetsblog, wondering how Leslie got her 15 minutes of fame given that only about 10 folks came to her protest.

Anonymous said...

as a biker, i'm guilty of running reds all the time. my motto is, if my action doesn't cause any pedestrians or cars to have to stop or worry if im going to hit them, then im going to go for it. same policy i have when jaywalking. There's just as many asshole drivers and clueless pedestrians to go around where everyone can be the villain. viva las bike lanes!

pedestrian/cyclist/driver said...

*just grabbing a bucket of popcorn*