See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
Brooklyn Daily
Traffic-clogged Jay Street has the scariest bike lanes around, according to our readers, but road-safety activists say it would be less hair-raising for all if the city installed a protected path for two-wheelers along the bustling corridor. (“Downtown cops vow to give double-parkers the full-court press,” online March 12).
The online commentariat put the pedal to the metal.
Great idea. Hopefully they will include a concrete barrier that rises out of the ground and blocks the cyclists from blowing through the red light in front of MetroTech Center. I see cyclists go through the red light there at an alarming rate.
The whole place is a mess, but cyclists are far from innocent. Making this a no-parking zone is not a good option. All no parking means is that these spaces are reserved for cops and court officials. A “Class A” walled-off bike lane is the only thing that would work, but the cyclist have to do their part. Lots of pedestrians cross these streetsSwampYankeefrom Ruined Brooklyn
A “crowd” of 50 in a borough of 2.5 million? How many of those 50 even live there? Or is it just the same group of Transportation Alternatives “advocates” who show up just about every community board meeting in the city?Mike Bike from N.Y.C.
Where do you think Transportation Alternatives advocates live? I am one and I live just down the street from Jay Street, which means I can’t avoid taking it to and from work when I bike or drive. I salute these advocates for getting off their butts and doing something about a very dangerous street. Some people just whine; others do something. Keep up the great work!
Brooklynite from Downtown
I am one of those cyclists who basically never runs lights, but every once in a while I find myself there at that very intersection, next to a very aggressive driver who is first in line or a driver who is trying to use the parking and-or bike lane as a passing lane to get around the line of cars waiting at the light. In that case in order for me to be safe, ironically, I have to do what is generally deemed as the unsafe thing, and run the light only in order to get in front of the aggressive drivers, who may otherwise run me over if I were still at that intersection when the light turns green. In general that intersection never has cars crossing or entering Jay from the cross street.
I definitely don’t advocate just blowing through lights or even going through one after stopping, but at this intersection in particular I can understand people wanting to get in front of the drivers here and arrive at the next light ahead of them, which they tend to wildly speed towards without any regard of the safety of everyone else around them. Because of the fact that this intersection is so unsafe and I really do hate running lights, and I generally feel unsafe waiting at the light, I actually just avoid the street entirely and take an alternative route.
If the bike lane were to be separated and the traffic pattern were made more safe for cyclists and pedestrians I’m sure far fewer people would feel the need to take their safety into their own hands by running that light.
Cyclist from Bed-Stuy
Jay Street is the best way for people from quite a lot of Brooklyn to cycle to the Manhattan Bridge, you don’t have to live near Jay Street to use it.
Brandon from Sunset Park
I attended the forum and it was excellent. People who walk, bike and drive along this dangerous road have come together to make it safer. Part of Vision Zero is moving forward boldly with street redesigns that make everyone safer. Protected bike lanes and a protected busway would go a long way to improve conditions for the hundreds of cyclists and thousands of bus passengers who travel this road daily.
Given the current dangerous conditions, it is somewhat amazing there hasn’t been a death on this street in the last decade. However, there have been several hundred serious injuries to bicyclists and pedestrians due to unsafe conditions. When we redesign streets to be safer for all road users, we prevent needless deaths and injuries to our most vulnerable road users.
Ben Kintisch from Bed-Stuy
Keep in mind that if you have a wall blocking access to vehicles reaching the curb that Access-A-Ride will not be able to drop people with disabilities off or pick them up in front of their location. A plan has to take all stakeholders into account.
Jeanwheels from Bay Ridge
I live just a few blocks east of Jay Street and often commute by bike through Jay to the Manhattan Bridge during rush hour (and sometimes have to drive there, too). It’s a terribly chaotic street. A two-way separated bike lane sounds like a really good idea.
A.S. from Boerum Hill
Jay Street is also the illegal U-turn capital of New York. Another thing that gets my goat is the MetroTech Drive that runs under the cantilever buildings. It is the most un-pedestrian friendly street in the area. You cannot even walk on the sidewalks because it’s blocked by useless bike racks that MetroTech set up and parked cars. I call the bike racks useless because if you park your bike there for more than an hour it will get stolen due to its hidden location, and at best MetroTech will leave an angry note on your bike.
Even if you avoid walking down this street, you risk your life crossing with the crosswalks at Lawrence or Bridge streets entering into the MetroTech Commons. Cars, and even MTA buses, shoot through the stop signs without slowing down. You should do a story on this street. You wouldn’t have to even leave the block since you are shacked up in the ‘Tech. You could get me to pose in a picture pointing at the street like you like to do in every article.
“OK, now point to the street like you’re mad.”
Cyclists do blast through the peds there. And this is coming from an avid cyclist and card carrying Transportation Alternatives member. Yes, the reason why us cyclists “run” reds is because it’s usually the safe thing to do. But people really blow through that crosswalk.
It’s probably because you have to keep your eyes open to avoid illegal U-turns livery cars are making trying to get back to the Fulton Mall to pick up illegal hails.
Yeah, this street is a mess. Let’s not even talk about the meat grinder it becomes as you approach the Manhattan Bridge.T-Bone from DoBro
I wonder what readers would think of re-opening the Ben Yehuda Midrachov to cars. And how the businesses on that street would feel about the same. Time to expand our imaginations beyond the narrow view of the automobile windshield.Tyson White from UWS
A separated and protected bike lane doesn’t necessarily mean a wall. In fact, it very, very seldom means a wall. It’s usually a permeable barrier like bollards and-or a lane of parking. I’ve strolled down Rachov Ben Yehuda in Jerusalem several times. I always thought it would have been much better with cars. I mean, those businesses are really suffering. How do people get to them? And it’s even worse since the last time I was in Jerusalem — Jaffa Road is now closed to cars! Can you imagine? The only thing allowed are the streetcar and pedestrians! Are the Israelis actively trying to ruin their country?
Ty from Prospect Park South
Personally, I think the separated bike lane is a bad idea for Jay Street. I have seen this street numerous times in the past, and it’s already hard to drive in with that idea. Of course, Councilman Steve Levin is known for having an anti-car bias and I have never heard him call out cyclists and pedestrians that do similar actions. Rather, he stays mute on that issue. Although I do believe that it’s wrong for cops that park in those lanes, it still doesn’t give the cyclists a reason to flout the laws themselves.
Right now, I feel that there is more important things that taxpayer dollars should be going to rather than creating a protected bike lane that will hardly ever by used by a lot on a regular basis, hence a boondoggle.
Tal Barzilai from Pleasantville, NY
Enforcement actually does work.
Jay from New York City