PPW Bike Lane: The Public Has Spoken, and THEY LIKE IT JUST FINE

Photo by Phil Catelinet

The depths have been plumbed, grievances investigated, driving speeds radar-detected, people polled and the results are in... The finding of a new community survey is that all of you anti-bike lane bloviators can STFU, already! Officially.

Council Members Brad Lander and Steven Levin along with CB6 wanted to bring peace to our tiny kingdom. They wanted to "get beyond the (old farts) shouting" and waving signs that said stuff like "when it snows where will it go?" (yeah, where will it go?).

And so in their infinite wisdom, the Lander/Levin/Crate and Barrel (oops community board) trifecta conducted a community survey of 3000+ Brooklynites.

Now, an argument can and has been made that this is a dumb-ass bike lane, not the best layout, redundant, a whip-lash hazard for pedestrians trying to get across in one piece, etc.

However, according to the survey results (here in handy dandy powerpoint), the bike path has broad public support overall, with PPW residents less enthusiastic and splitting down the middle: half in favor, half opposed. Less than 30% of Park Slopers want to remove the bike path.

Specifically, those polled reported slower car traffic and overall improved safety for bikers and walkers alike. There could def be improvements for "pedestrian-bike interface" at crossings and making sure nobody gets clocked when car doors get opened, but survey findings indicate that overall, people feel safer.

The DOT has already announced its own finding that the bike lane and reconfiguration of Prospect Park West has significantly slowed down car traffic.