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POLL: Do You Like the Bicycle Lanes on Queens Blvd?
very irrational decision, made many small businesses close out. jamming car traffic, reducing parking spots
I ride whit more confidence.
Ok. Saw 3 bikes in the summer on queens blvd bike lane. … who rides in the winter…how about closing them for winter and special hours in summer…its queens blvd..traffic. deliveries congestion ..joke
I live in bayridge brooklyn and deblasio Captain congestion is installing his congestion drawing all over the streets here also. Why don’t bike riders has a license and insurance. They need to also have some rules to follow.
I love bicycle lanes! Just the right width for my Japanese domestic market kei car. Got the sucker turboed up and can easily get it up to 75 in about 5 seconds. Love to see those chumps on bikes scatter before me and dive for the sidewalk to escape the angry bee.
Stand on it!
Our elected and appointed officials were too busy patting each other on the back last week with the overflow of statistical data regarding the version zero programs to mention even one negative impact it has had on the communities and commuters it affected. At best, they failed to realize its impact on the commuters (including bus riders) and the community. At worse, they knew of the problems and still plowed through with it while wasting millions of taxpayer’s dollars in the process.
To begin this saga, Politicians needed a punch line to get the campaign started. The labeled Queens Boulevard the “Boulevard of Death” by simply citing the total number of deaths over 35 years and implying it was just speeding motorists that caused it. The accumulation figure and one year high 13 years ago is a piss poor attempt to justify these ill conceived programs.
First, Queens Boulevard is not the most dangerous roadway in New York City. Accidents, injuries and deaths are not solely from the actions of car drivers. A closer review of all the facts including jaywalking (crossing against the traffic light, not crossing in crosswalks, crossing between cars or in the middle of the block instead of at the corners), inattentive pedestrians (cell phones), intoxication of both drivers and pedestrians, unlicensed drivers, etc… would show a more complete and clearer picture on how these accidents occurred.
They used the same excuse with the Queens Boulevard bike lane program in order to waste $100 million dollars for (at most) 100 bicyclists. These officials mislead the public by saying that no vehicle lanes were taken away to make bike lanes. The fact is that the true “Phase I” of the bike lane project started when the DOT took away the left lane of the east and west service road under the ruse of “safety” by striping over them. The DOT confiscated these lanes in order to put in bike lanes. Besides these areas being empty and unused most of the year, this weekend’s snow storm is another clear reason we need the lanes back for plowing and emergency vehicles.
Another misconception is that these bike lanes were meant for everyone, including bike riding families. This perception was portrayed by the staged bike trip with kids and parents (along with elected officials) in the summer and put on Youtube for all to see. The fact is that these bike lanes are meant for commuters outside of community (Manhattan, Astoria. Rego Park, Forest Hills, Jamaica, etc…). It was specially designed to be the most direct bike route in and out of Manhattan into Queens.
By the way, the tan colored buffer zone in the DOT plans are slated to be filled in with concrete to widen the traffic dividers between the main and service road. These widen islands were designed to be used by both pedestrians and bicyclists. This concentrating of pedestrians and bicyclists into these areas will most certainly increase accidents between them.
Because of these changes, we no longer have a rush hour problem on Queens Boulevard. We now have a rush day and rush evening problem that is affecting everyone who lives along or uses Queens Boulevard. To say that deaths along Queens Boulevard are decreasing because of DOT’s changes is wrong. The reason is the lower speed rate (25 mph) and traffic jams most of the time. So deaths by vehicles will certainly decrease for now. But with our ever increasing population fueled by irresponsible development along Queens Boulevard, accidents and deaths between pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles will eventually begin to uptick. By then, all those who will benefit financially and politically from these mega-deals will be laughing it up in their retirement mansions.
There are solutions and the space available to correct these problems now and address all concerns. Yet there seems to be more of a mentality of “circling the wagons” by those responsible in hopes to weather the storm of criticism then have to acknowledge mistakes made in order to fix them.
POLL: Do you like wide car lanes on residential streets?
Public health should always come first.
The plan was not thought out. The cyclist do not obey the rules of the road and should not have been added to Sunnyside area or within communities where children play.
Good point, drivers do not obey the rules of the road either and should by no means be allowed to drive in communities with children.
my last bike got stolen a decade ago. i’d never buy one again in this city…somewhere nice, yes, just not here. no quality of life here.
Unsafe…I really don’t see enough bicyclists using these lanes on Queens Blvd????
So the reason the bike lane is not on the right is as followx.
When the light is green and all traffic is moving… bikes and cars….
If a car is going to make a right turn, they would need to check and see if there is a bike on the right using the mirror. US drivers are not trained to do this. In the Netherlands, it is part of the basic driving lessons as the bike lanes are part of the sidewalk on the right. And the bike actually has the right of way, since the car is crossing it’s path.
On the left as it is… it is much safer. There is no left turn from the local traffic lane and when green, cars and bike can travel without any interference.
So that means if a person on a bicycle wants to make a right turn they have to cross the car path!!!
This crappy plan was thrown together so quickly so your mayor could say he was doing something, that it wasn’t thought out properly. End of story.
That’s a good point. They would have to wait for a red light, turning right or left. I’m not sure where they wait if there are other bikes behind.
I had a dutch driver’s license. The test is much more involved due to the bicycles. You really need to know how to use all of your mirrors. The westbound stop sign changing from center to local at 58th st, is a good example of the dangers. That is pretty tricky.
A solution to alleviate some of the congestion on Qb is for the light pattern to become more sequential so that each light turns green one after the other, which will keep the flow of traffic at least moving for some time instead of a complete standstill.
this is a question at the moment, not criticism. i do not understand layout yet in photo, (in general i support bike lanes and not having queens blvd be a high speed highway and was the request-for-community-input-DOT seminar)
1. the fifth strip over from the left — what is that for?
2. i like the middle and side walkways as one who uses them. the middle one has made one feel safe when crossing in the past with multiple vehicle lanes as a safe oasis.
But in this section of QB with vehicle lanes are now reduced to two in each direction, perhaps later the strips for pedestrians can be made less wide.
driver advocates who are taxpayers, too, and are often older and not represented in blog readers.
I’ve never seen anyone using the so-called pedestrian walkway. Who would be crazy enough to want to walk out there when we have sidewalks on both sides of the Boulevard? In the many months this has been in effect, I can honestly say I have not seen enough bikers using it to have warrented such drastic changes. I agree we need safety measures to protect even one biker, but feel this setup isn’t the best answer to that problem. Trying to get into the service road on the Westbound side before 58th is an accident or death waiting to happen. It’s impossible for any motorist to use their side mirror for oncoming people, walking or biking, or cars due to an almost complete right turn at the exit instead of a stop and a merge. Also, almost impossible to get into main road until way past the 60’s Eastbound. Think some modifications to some poorly thoughtout plans would make bikers as well as motorists happier and safer. I’m sure someone out there should be able to fix this and satisfy everyone here before it gets extended further out which is the plan. One can only hope.
A right-angle crossing is much safer as it increases visibility greatly.
The article’s pic is photoshopped, right? I’ve never seen that many bikes and/or pedestrians in the lanes at the same time.
From a two lane to a single lane just to take up space for a bike lane which I see unreasonable. Cars go really fast seems dangerous if theIr new to this blvd going fast on a two lane then having to switch to a one lane because they decided to make more room for a bike lane. REDESIGN PLEASE!
Cars shouldn’t be driving fast on the service road. The legal speed limit is 25 mph.
Why would you have an option “who cares”. Someone who votes who cares might as well not vote.
Like I said in the other thread, this is a terrible design, it’s like adding a pedestrian walkway into long island expressway. Why would they take up so much space for the bike lane make it so much more dangerous for the drivers as well as those who park, now when someone parks on the side after 6pm as allowed, making the service road just 1 lane, that person existing the vehicle will open the door against traffic. Such terrible design.
I love the comparison to the LIE, you hit the nail on the head. The whole design is a mess and QB is not well suited for this.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE WALKWAY ? when there are sidewalks on both sides of QB?
like i said it was designed by computer and not by real people who drive on the roads…..how do these people get these jobs and screw up so badly?
I support bike lanes but the design is terrible. Difficult enough as a motorist getting on or off the service road but it’s nearly impossible to see cyclists. And who painted the entire thing? It has to be slick when it rains. Borders would be enough.
Like the lane but not where it was created. Should have been next to the curb, away from vehicles and protected by parked vehicles. The two crossover lanes between 48 Street and 65th Place are very dangerous. Not sure who designed this (not a bicyclist?). And to reiterate other posts, the pavement is horrible. DOT could have done some work on it. But that is typical of DOT – not paving roads. Also, not enough cleaning of bike lanes. A lot of road grit and construction derringers kicked out into the bike lane.
I think the pavement repair is part of a longer-term project.
Remind me again. How many cyclists contributed to the name “Boulevard of Death”?
Is there some magic number you are looking for that would justify this? Is 1 not enough? There are three since 2008 that I know of. Asif, James and Alex. Asif’s mum has been fighting for this since he was killed. She is a kind woman, determined, humble, I feel her pain everytime I meet her. James I didn’t know, but have several friends who did and he left quite an impression on them. I’ve ridden with Alex’s brother George since his death, and met the family, good people. Alex was a dad commuting to his job. Left 2 kids and a wife behind. Do you need others? I am sure they are there, and that is not even counting all the seriously injured that I have heard of or know personally. Also, this poll is a bit myopic. It does much more than provide a safer space for cyclists. It benefits all street users, making the Boulevard safer for all of us by better organizing traffic, calming the roadway and providing more pedestrian space. And there are other benefits as well: http://www.fastcoexist.com/3035580/new-york-citys-protected-bike-lanes-have-actually-sped-up-its-car-traffic
I think that comment was saying that cyclists were not the cause of the name, but drivers were.
The truth is that drivers will never be happy no matter how many lanes we put in. What can be done to satisfy them? Carve out more lanes from the buildings on each side?
A blvd as wide as Queens Blvd has plenty of space for everything: Sidewalks, bike lanes, bus lanes, AND multiple lanes for driving and parking. There’s no reason we shouldn’t have them all.
pedestrian paths right next to them with only a painted line makes them dangerous.
Terrible, terrible design! Made traffic a complete nightmare.
How? No lanes of traffic were removed. Are you upset that you can’t drive where you weren’t supposed to anyway?
There were closures in merge lanes causing more cars/trucks to enter the service road. This has caused major congestion in the service lanes that used to have TWO lanes. Now the service road is one lane with limited entrances and exits.
With the exception of about 200 feet near 65th place, the service lane only had 1 lane. Google Map it and see. Also before, people would move back and forth between the express and local lanes shopping for the faster traffic even if they were driving all the way out to Jamaica. Now if you have a longer trip ahead of you, you will stay out of the local lanes, and only truly local traffic will go there. People have to learn the new pattern and that takes a bit of time, but eventually that issue will sort itself out.
Nope, the service road had two lane in Woodside/Sunnyside. I would take it every day.
The new design is stupid and wont sort itself out because its crowd control. Plain and simple.
The ONLY possible way to relieve traffic congestion is to have fewer people driving.
Just because a one-lane road was wider than most, that doesn’t mean it was two lanes.
The current bike path was not well thought out. What’s wrong with the concept of the bike lane between the parked cars and adjacent the pedestrian walkway?
People tend to park cars in them anyway and pedestrians step off the sidewalk without looking, because you don’t realize how fast a bike is. I ride anywhere between 15 and 20 miles an hour when I get going on a long, flat stretch, and that is so much faster than people walk. This design will, hopefully, keep us all safer.
Slow down. You are going too fast to stop suddenly if you need to. That means you are not in control of your vehicle. Car drivers should do it and so should bikes. Everyone is responsible.
Are you suggesting that cyclists go faster than motorists on Queens Boulevard?
The speeds he is talking about are way under the speed limit. And bikes can actually stop faster than cars. Less mass to slow down.
It gets in the way of bus riders, and makes bikers deal with more intersections.
Samuel, I didn’t realize this but your comment made so much sense, yes now I understand this is actually a very smart design. It is like bike highway. Indeed a bicycle can now move much faster compared to a design between the curb and the parked cars.
Here new things that they are building in other cities:
http://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/first-bike-highway-in-germany-opens
http://inhabitat.com/london-mayor-approves-europes-first-bike-superhighway/londonbikeroad/
And yes I agree that bikes should stop for pedestrians.
I’m seeing a lot of comments about putting the bike lane near the sidewalk. We should keep in mind that the current design is just temporary…the DOT plans to do a full capital project in 2018, which will place the bike lanes inside the medians with concrete around them…so they won’t be so exposed to traffic. I also wondered if it would have been better to put the bike lanes near the sidewalk, but the final DOT plans actually look quite good.
That is great news. Never heard that plan before. Very good.
I’m not a biker, but I would imagine the reason they don’t put the bike lane by the car lane is that most people don’t look when they open their doors and that can be very devastating to a biker. It is called getting “doored”. Anything that saves people’s lives, I’m for. If this causes drivers to slow down, hallelujah! That makes it safer for pedestrians too. Very infrequently, a pedestrian is killed by a bicycle but every day someone is killed by a car in NYC and this blvd is called the blvd of death for a reason.
Only bikers call that collision getting “doored.” Drivers call it an horrible accident. Bikers are doing this! Stay far enough away from a car to avoid it for God’s sake. You will never, ever be able to control someone else’s behavior. Opening a door is necessary to getting out of a car, and we all know about blind spots, even when a driver turns to look, which we are all taught to do before we get licenses. Accidents happen, ride your bike defensively. You have to conform to the conditions of life in an overcrowded city as much as everyone else. So, do it. Protect yourself.
Even if you’re biking defensively, if someone opens a door in front of you there will not be enough time to come to a full stop. Your first instinct is to swerve away from the door, which means you’ll be swerving into the traffic lane. Not a good idea to make any unexpected moves on the ‘boulevard of death.’ These separated bike lanes make sense.
Failure to look for approaching traffic (bicycle or otherwise) before opening your car door is not accidental. It’s negligent, and it’s illegal.
Every driver is taught to be aware of blind spots. If you can’t see it, you don’t know if it’s occupied or vacant. Assuming that your blind spot is vacant is negligent. A moving bicyclist takes, what, a second or two to clear your blind spot? So if you’re not sure if a cyclist is approaching, wait a few seconds before opening your door so that you can verify before you do any damage. (Yes, I just delayed you by two seconds. Sorry about that.)
The design here avoids the issue by placing the bike lane away from the parked cars, so what exactly is your objection?
Are you aware of the fact that the law requires a driver or passenger opening a door to check for oncoming traffic of any kind, and that 100% of liability for opening a door into an oncoming cyclist or motor vehicle falls on the person opening the door? Yes, opening a door is required for getting out of the car, but what is wrong with adding a little looking first? Obviously, you are just being selfish.
They should have placed the bike lanes in between the cars and sidewalk. These cyclists, especially the aggressive ones, will unfortunately get it by a car.
Basically what this poll will really tell us is the breakdown of Sunnyside Post readers that are bikers versus drivers.
I am a driver and I have nothing against SAFE and completely segregated/divided bike lanes that do not cause traffic problems. I always promoted and defended the idea of bike lanes that are not just stick figures drawn on the street and call it “bike lane” like they did on 43rd and 48th. Anyway, it’s a great idea to have individual bike lanes but only if they are completely separate from the road like west side highway and away from traffic, and does not contribute to congestion. We have huge sidewalks, move them in 2 feet, let cars park there, and then if they want the bike lane on the service road, get rid of the damn barriers or push them the side and get rid of the little sidewalk on the service road separator and build it in the middle. Done.
OR just build an elevated bike lane on queens blvd, that would be amazingly cool and applauded, but no, they spend MILLIONS to pain the street, wonder who they made rich this project.
I voted in the poll, and I take trains, buses, drive a little, and would like to use my bike more but don’t feel like we have enough protected bike lanes in Queens to feel safe doing so. I voted yes on the poll, because I think our roads should have a safe space for all users–people driving, biking, riding buses, and walking. I’m glad to see a protected bike lane on QB in Sunnyside and hope to see it extended along the entire Boulevard.
I have no problem with bike lanes on queens boulevard. I just think they made a horrible design idea. As a driver i have enough trouble checking for oncoming cars when moving from express to local. I’m really, really, really worried i’m going to miss a cyclist one of these days and run them over.
poor design idea.
i’d like to see some of the other design proposals that had been rejected and the reason(s) for their rejection.
Aren’t there stop signs at every crossover point? So you should be stopping and checking?
Idea is great!
BUT it does not seem well thought out,
Bike lane needs to be next to the Curb where pedestrians walk.
especially at large intersections!!!
and the pavement is still horrible!
The problem with that idea is exactly what you see in Manhattan – pedestrians walking on the bike lane and, if they’re unprotected, cars parking/driving on them too.
Pedestrians stop when necessary, as do cars. Why do bikers expect everyone in the world to stop for them? If someone is in your way, you stop! Look around you, no one gets a smooth uninterrupted trip in NYC, we all have to make room for each other. Slow down! It is easier to stop then.
I never said cyclists should be able to ride freely. They should follow all of the laws laid out, just like every one. They should stop at stop signs and at lights (and wait there throughout the light). They should ride with the flow of traffic.
I just think that everything will be a lot smoother if everyone just did what they were supposed to do. Pedestrians shouldn’t race across Queens Blvd in front of cars (more in Sunnyside). Cars shouldn’t run red lights and….. god forbid… should wait until there’s enough room for their car on the other side of the intersection before crossing into it (the cause of most traffic problems in cities).
Peds walk on them when there isn’t enough sidewalk space. This is where car space on the street should be reduced.