On Tuesday night, the transportation committee of Community Board 7 unanimously passed a resolution approving a Department of Transportation (DOT) plan to create a protected bike lane on Central Park West, in part, by eliminating parking on the east side of the avenue. Four hundred parking spaces will be lost if the plan is implemented.
The new bike lane would run north from Columbus Circle to Frederick Douglass Circle — 59th Street to 110th Street. It would be bordered by the curb, with painted and physical barriers (bollards), separating it from traffic by seven feet.
The response of the audience, which filled the chapel of Congregation Rodeph Sholom to capacity, while not unanimous, was overwhelmingly positive. The memory of Madison Lyden, the 23-year-old Australian woman killed last summer while biking on Central Park West, was very much present in the room. A letter from her mother in favor of a protected bike lane was read.
The board had previously asked the city to consider putting a protected lane on CPW, but Lyden’s death accelerated that process. The bike lane that currently exists is separated from traffic by only a painted line. Cars now park and pick up passengers at the curb. It was a livery cab, pulling out from the present parking lane, that forced Lyden to swerve into the path of traffic and the private carting truck that killed her, police said.
“This plan will make sure what happened to Madison Lyden will never happen again,” said Council Member Helen Rosenthal, who stopped by the meeting to express support and gratitude to the Department of Transportation.
The community board had originally asked for a two-way bike lane, but that was deemed unfeasible, due to turning-lane and bus-stop considerations, according to a DOT official.
Several community members stepped forward to complain about the behavior of bikers, and to ask for greater enforcement of them than is currently occurring. Deputy Inspector Timothy Malin, of the 20th precinct, responded that the far great incidence of accidents involving automobiles made them the NYPD’s primary focus.
The next step is for the full Community Board to vote on the resolution. If approved, implementation of the plan could begin as soon as this year and conclude in 2020.
Community residents and other interested parties will again be able to express their opinions about the plan at the next Full Community Board meeting to be held on July 2nd. We’ll post the details of when and where as they become available.
https://www.westsiderag.com/2019/06/...parking-spaces
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