I ran across an article on the Guardian website today. It says New York just passed a $1.7bn road infrastructure bill that will pay for more than 250 new bike lanes and 1m sq ft of new pedestrian space over the next ten years.
Although the number of frequent cyclists in New York has risen by 26% between 2012 and 2017, the number of cyclists dying has risen too with cyclist and pedestrian fatalities rising by 24%.
It's promising to note that these new bike lanes will be physically separated from traffic, which makes them far safer. Even a curb height barrier greatly improves protection from texting drivers and are widespread in Europe, but less so in the US. The 250 new miles of bike lanes will be built in the next five years.
The five years after that sees a commitment to a fully connected cycling network. We all know about bike paths and lanes that connect two bike unfriendly roads - that seems to be the default. For example, we have the upper SART that connects Waterman to Arlington - two very bike unfriendly roads with heavy traffic and no shoulders - which greatly reduces the value of the bike route. This bill recognizes the problem and seeks to avoid it.
Hopefully Corey Johnson, who introduced the bill, will get his vision in place, on budget, and on time.
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