Reactions to Kelly Hurley's death

Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, released a statement yesterday about Kelly Hurley's death.

It reads in part:

The crash happened in one of the so-called “mixing zones” where drivers are allowed to make careful left turns from First Avenue as cyclists are going straight through intersections with the green light.

Mixing zones only work when motorists yield. Time and again, New York City motorists have proven incapable of exercising basic care, with deadly results. As with pedestrian crossing phases that similarly rely on the hope of motorist compliance, this deadly traffic signal design flaw must be corrected so that there is a clear unambiguous right-of-way signal phasing for bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists alike.

The NYPD is making a mockery of the data driven principles that undergird Vision Zero. As they have done in the wake of other recent tragedies, the NYPD unleashed a ticketing blitz on cyclists shortly after the preventable crash that killed Kelly. Yet data show the majority of bikers and walkers are killed not by their own mistakes, but by speeding, unyielding and lawless motorists.

Of the 18 cyclist fatalities in 2016 for which details of the crash are known, 13 were caused directly by the criminal or reckless actions of a driver — including failure to yield, driving while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, speeding, and ignoring red lights. As the DOT upgrades design to account for widespread lawless driving, the NYPD must redirect enforcement towards the real killers on our streets.

As mentioned in the above statement, officers from the 9th Precinct were ticketing cyclists yesterday for a variety of infractions on First Avenue at 10th Street — one block from where the collision occurred last week.

Per Streetsblog:

Red light running has nothing to do with the crash that claimed Hurley’s life. She would have had a green when the truck driver ran her over, since the intersection design requires cyclists and turning drivers to negotiate the same space at the same time.

And here's @NYPD9Pct one block north right now. pic.twitter.com/opjGDa8XnK

— Brooklyn Spoke (@BrooklynSpoke) April 13, 2017

A cyclist was killed by a driver who failed to yield in @NYPD9Pct so Captain Vincent Greany told his officers to ticket cyclists because...

— Jessie Singer (@jessiesingernyc) April 13, 2017

The driver of the box truck who struck Hurley remained at the scene on April 5. As The Village Voice reported yesterday, the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad investigated the crash, "but he was not charged with failure to yield, or failure to exercise due care, or any other crime." The collision remains under investigation.

[Updated] CB3 to hear plans tonight for protected bike lane on Chrystie Street

[Image via DOT]

Tonight, CB3's Transportation & Public Safety/Environment Committee is meeting... and among the agenda items: Department of Transportation (DOT) presentation on upgrade of two-way protected bicycle lane on Chrystie Street from Canal Street to Houston.

And Gothamist has an in-depth preview of the proposal...

Since unprotected bike lanes were added to [Chrystie Street's] north and south-bound lanes in 2008, cyclists have argued that the painted lines have faded, and serve as little protection from rogue drivers. Southbound cyclists enjoying the protected bike lane on Second Avenue also get a rude awakening at 1st Street, where they are forced to cross three lanes of traffic in order to enter the southbound painted bike lane on Chrystie south of Houston.

The DOT's proposal ... establishes a two-way protected bike lane on Chrystie Street from Houston Street to Canal Street, running along the full length of Sarah Roosevelt Park. The southbound lane will extend a few blocks farther, to 2nd Street and Houston Street.

The DOT says the lane could be installed as soon as Fall 2016. Southbound cyclists on Second Avenue will have a safe path to the Manhattan Bridge, and northbound cyclists will be able to turn right off of Chrystie to merge onto the protected northbound lane on 1st Avenue.

Tonight's meeting is at Grand Street Settlement Cornerstone at Seward Park Extension, 56 Essex St. between Grand and Broome.

Updated 3-9

BoweryBoogie was at the meeting... despite overwhelming support for the measure, things got political with the committee ... read the coverage here.

City adjusts the bike lane on East 9th Street

[Last week!]

Last week we noted that bike lanes returned to the repaved East 10th Street and East Ninth Street. However, the city seemed to have made some kind of boo-boo on Ninth between First Avenue and Second Avenue, as you can see in the above reader-submitted photo.

However, the city made amends last night, as the DOT was out to adjust the white lines, via these photos by EVG reader Charlie Chen…







This also might put to rest the rumors that this block was intended to be used as an alien landing strip.

Here is your new East 9th Street bike lane!

Well last week a reader pointed out that the bike lanes hadn't returned yet on East 10th Street and East 9th Street after the recent pave job… well, the bike lane is back on East Ninth Street as of Wednesday. Kind of!

Not sure what is going on here between First Avenue and Second Avenue … maybe this is just for unicycles? OK, probably not done. Or did the city make some kind of mistake?









Thanks to EVG reader dbs for all the photos.

By the way, the bike lane on East Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue appears to be the right size...

What happened to the bike lanes on East 9th Street and East 10th Street?

[East 9th Street at 1st Avenue]

Several EVG readers have pointed out that, after the milling and paving on East Ninth Street and East 10th Street earlier this year, the bike lanes have yet to reappear.

Says one reader: "We might still be waiting patiently except there was lane re-painting done on Ninth between First and Second but not for bikes!"


[East 9th Street looking east toward 1st Avenue]

So as far as we can tell, the bike lanes are gone on East Ninth Street from Avenue A to Fourth Avenue … and on East 10th Street between First Avenue to Fourth Avenue …


[East 10th Street looking east at 1st Avenue]


[East 9th Street looking west at 2nd Avenue]

The reader was particularly disconcerted about the lack of lanes on East 10th Street — "much more heavily trafficked by both bikes and cars."

P.S.
Who will be the first to note that the delivery guy in the above photo ran the light and nearly hit a pedestrian?

Here comes the protected 4th Avenue bike lane

On Friday, workers started putting down the green for the new protected bike lane…



… that will stretch from Lafayette and Prince Street up Fourth Avenue to East 12th Street.

And here is a look at the lane on Lafayette at Bond…



The new bike path will not remove any car lanes, but instead narrows them on Fourth/Lafayette.



Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Looking at the First Avenue's new bike lane and 'floating lane' (64 comments)

Protest planned for reconfigured Avenues (153 comments)

Report: More support for protected bike lane on Lafayette Street/Fourth Avenue

Report: More support for protected bike lane on Lafayette Street/Fourth Avenue

A quick note from the coverage that Streetsblog provided from last Thursday night's Community Board 2 meeting:

In a unanimous 9-0 vote last night, Manhattan Community Board 2′s transportation committee endorsed a DOT plan to upgrade a buffered bike lane on Lafayette Street and Fourth Avenue to a parking-protected lane, complete with new pedestrian islands, car lanes of an appropriate width for the city, and improved signal timing for pedestrians. The plan now moves to CB 2′s full board meeting on March 20.

The protected lane would run from Prince Street up to East 12th Street. The proposal would not remove any car lanes, but instead narrows them on the avenues, per Streetsblog.

Find a PDF of the proposal here. Read the whole Streetsblog post here.

How are we feeling about protected bike lanes these days? Anyone? Comments?

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Looking at the First Avenue's new bike lane and 'floating lane' (64 comments)

Protest planned for reconfigured Avenues (153 comments)

Report: 2nd Avenue bike lane will extend from 14th to 23rd streets

Cyclists (and maybe parkers!) take note. The Department of Transportation plans to remove a lane of traffic on Second Avenue between 14th Street and 23rd Street to make room for about 35 parking spaces, which will provide a buffer for cyclists using the bike lane along this busy stretch, DNAinfo is reporting.

"It would create a continuous protected path on the avenue...and makes a shorter pedestrian path for those crossing Second Avenue who might need to walk a little slower," DOT spokesperson Patrick Kennedy said last night during a CB6 committee meeting.

The full CB6 Board will vote on the proposed plan next week, per DNAinfo. Read the article here.

Citi Bikes docking station arrives at Astor Place

On the west side of the Death Star... photo from Twitter via @buttermilk1

East Second Street gets a bike lane

EVG regular Spike passes along this photo with news that East Second Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue now has a new bike lane...

... and apparently no one told this guy, spotted walking in the bike lane...



Also, no word just yet how this will impact the double parking on this block.

This car blocked the Second Avenue bike lane for most of the morning

This morning, EVG reader John sent along a photo of a bike-lane obstruction on Second Avenue just below East 10th Street...

Two hours later, the car was still there...

The owner of the car has something apparently to do with the construction job at 154 Second Ave.

Here come the (unprotected?) East Houston bike lanes

Via a tweet by @felixsalmon this morning ... we see that the long-discussed East Houston Street bike lanes are on the way...

The $60 million Houston Street Corridor Reconstruction started in the fall of 2010, and is to include wider medians, bigger sidewalks, fewer traffic lanes and bike lanes... (Earlier this year, DNAinfo reported that the construction would now last through spring 2014...)

Back in 2009, Streetsblog pointed out that "instead of installing a physically protected path for cyclists, the city plans to paint a buffered, Class 2 lane" on East Houston...

From that Streetsblog article:

Currently, 70 percent of drivers on East Houston Street speed, according to studies conducted by Transportation Alternatives. "It's hard to imagine that paint will offer the kind of protection mainstream New Yorkers will need to feel safe biking on this crucial, yet dangerous corridor," said TA's Wiley Norvell. "The city has innovative physically-protected designs on hand, and to not use them on Houston would be a huge missed opportunity."

Based on the top photo, it appears that the bike lanes won't be protected...

This is the official word on the project via the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center:

To improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists along East Houston Street, DDC will be installing a number of traffic-calming measures. One significant measure is the neck-down. A neck-down is an extension of the curb that shortens the crosswalk distance while at the same time requiring motorists to reduce their speed to turn onto a sidestreet. In addition to the neck-downs, medians will be extended into the crosswalk creating a visible traffic-calming measure and safe refuge area for pedestrians. Other improvements include:

• Dedicated Bicycle Lanes and Bike Racks: The lanes will create a safer environment for bicyclists by calming traffic; while the bike racks will encourage bicycle use by providing users a safe storage option.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Coming soon to East Houston: Construction, hell, rodent control stations

Long-threatened East Houston reconstruction starting this month

Meanwhile, in the First Avenue bike lane

EV Grieve reader Steve Carter notes this at First Street this afternoon.

Biking on lower Bowery and the Manhattan Bridge promises to be messy for the next few months

Longtime lower Bowery resident Curt Hoppe passes along this photo of the new bike lane on the street...

As Gothamist has reported, this is all part of the Manhattan Bridge rehabilitation work that starts today. It's a little confusing, these plans. But have a look.

[Via Gothamist]

So Manhattan-bound cyclists will exit the bridge on the Bowery and bike north to Prince Street... along the pre-existing path...

Per John Del Signore at Gothamist: "The change is annoying because on the Brooklyn side, cyclists will now have to dismount and carry their bikes up and down the stairs to get to the path. And they'd better get used to it, because this is the way it's going to be through January 2012. WHY GOD?!"

Meanwhile, Hoppe is curious how the Fung Wah Bus company will deal with this. Their buses typically idle exactly where the new bike lane is painted in on the Bowery.

Said Hoppe, "What a mess this is going to be."

Fun in the bike lanes

In case you haven't seen this by now... this video has made the rounds the last two days. It's from Casey Neistat, the East Village-based filmmaker about his experience getting a $50 ticket for not riding in the bike lane on Second Avenue near St. Mark's Place.

Hilarity ensues.

And here's an interview with him at New York magazine.

NYPD tries to ticket cyclist for riding without a bell

Jeez. Is it the heat? Blowing a red light is one thing...

Occurred on First Avenue at Fifth Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
NYPD slaps $270 ticket on East Village cyclist for running red light

Bike lane patrol

EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams noted yesterday that police officers were on Second Avenue at Fifth Street waiting for cyclists to run the red light... the fellow pictured apparently didn't stop, and was let off with a warning.

Let's not mention this to samo, OK? Previously.

City's new First and Second Avenue bike and bus lanes are a success, city says

I'm just catching up to this story that Streestblog posted last Friday. The piece was based on a presentation by the Department of Transportation on the First and Second Avenue redesign.

Here are a few highlights via Streetsblog, where you can find more details as well as a dandy slideshow:

• The new Select Bus Service is 15 percent faster than the old limited was. It goes 11 percent faster while moving, thanks to dedicated lanes enforced with cameras, and spends 36 percent less time at stops thanks to off-board fare payment.

• Where the bike lane and pedestrian refuge islands were installed, the street is much safer. Injuries declined by 8.3 percent compared to an average of the three previous years.

• Riders are flocking to the new protected lanes. On First Avenue, there were more riders counted in December, January, and February with the lanes than in June without them. From June 2010 to April 2011, the count rose by 153 percent. On Second, where the base of riders was higher to start, the number of cyclists rose by 55 percent from June to April.

Breaking: First Avenue bike lane buffers getting buffed up — with trees!

Crews are out now on First Avenue...

... putting in a tree at ever bike lane buffer along First Avenue...

The finished product.

Thoughts?

Previously.

You chance to discuss bike lanes tonight

At St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery ... I hope the Post wasn't invited to cover this!