New York Times Report - Expansion of Bike Lanes Brings Backlash

Expansion of Bike Lanes in City Brings Backlash



Photo by Michael Appleton for The New York Times

Taking the bicycle lane on Ninth Avenue. New York has added 250 miles of bicycle-only lanes in the past four years, but not everyone is pleased.

On November 8th, I posted a snippet from a Rhode Island paper explaining how stimulus money was used to add bike lanes, see story here http://carfreeinannarbor.blogspot.com/2010/11/bike-lanes.html . 

Now it seems that there's a backlash in New York and some bike lanes are being removed.  See full New York Times article here  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/nyregion/23bicycle.html?_r=1 

 By J. DAVID GOODMAN

Published: November 22, 2010

Over the last four years, the streets of New York City have undergone a transformation: More than 250 miles of traffic lanes dedicated for bicycles have been created, and several laws intended to promote cycling have been passed.

The efforts by the Bloomberg administration have placed the city at the forefront of a national trend to make bicycling viable and safe even in the most urban of settings. Yet over the last year, a backlash has taken hold.

Bowing to vocal opposition from drivers and elected officials, the city last week began removing a 2.35-mile painted bike lane along Father Capodanno Boulevard on Staten Island. In Manhattan, a community board held a special hearing this month for business owners to vent about problems posed by a new protected bicycle lane on Columbus Avenue — in particular, the removal of parking spaces and the difficulty of getting truck deliveries.

There are bike lanes in Ann Arbor with more coming, however I'm still a bit paranoid of riding in the street next to traffic and prefer  sidewalks, when they are not taken by pedestrians.  Thoughts? bike lanes - good or bad?

Astrid