Who Gives a Shit: Will the New Loop Proposed for Prospect Park Reduce Accidents?

Prospect Park Road Sharing Taskforce

I’m not a frequent user of the loop at Prospect Park, but every once in a while I'll go for a long walk or bike ride around it. Sometimes I'm a tad confused as to where exactly I’m supposed to be (and as we're all aware, it's shit like this that leads to accidents, lawsuits, ticket crackdowns and the presence of giant orange barrels).

If on foot, walkers share a lane with the joggers, which sometimes gets jammy (not helped by those swimming upstream). As for bikers, during rush hours they are supposed to be immediately adjacent, in a 7-ft. wide lane, which is a bit too close in my opinion. All you need is one fool getting caught up in a call or sexting session and they’re suddenly more off course than an Italian ship captain.

Likewise, there are slow moving out-of-shape bikers like me, gasping for air (downhill) while others – often in packs – are seemingly training for the Little 500, all in a narrow channel. Then there are the two 12-foot lanes reserved for cars, but only during certain periods of the day.

The new proposal from the Prospect Park Road Sharing Taskforce suggests reducing the car lanes to one, and doubling the pedestrian lane to 14 ft. wide. Bikers would now get the former inside car lane full time. And there would also be a buffer between those on foot and those on bikes.

I think it makes more sense as everyone gets more room – except for cars.  Those folks are likely going to be pissed, but the New York Times quotes the task force study that claims “By pushing that traffic into one lane, the study found there would be about a six- or seven-second delay added to the trip through the park.”

If you want to hear more, there’s a public meeting tonight in the Prospect Park Picnic House at 6:00 p.m.   For more info, click here.

What do you think FIPS readers?