Improving Cyclist & Pedestrian Safetyin Washington Heights & Inwood

A presentation by

Bike Upper Manhattan (BikeUp) and Inwood-Washington Heights Livable Streets to Community Board 12, based upon a Petition circulated in the neighborhoods of Washington Heights and Inwood, District 12/Manhattan since September 14, 2010

and signed by 1300 people.

The streets of New York are changing. Today, New Yorkers can enjoy dozens of new public plazas in places formerly occupied by speeding traffic; safely negotiate school zones, senior districts and the areas around transit stations in more friendly streetscapes; and ride along protected bicycle lanes.”

2009 Street Design Manual, NYC Department of Transportation

Foreword from the Commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan

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…but not in WaHI.

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The City has encouraged Community Boards to speak up in favor of New York City’s policy of changing our streets to make them safer and friendlier to pedestrians and cyclists. Data show protected bike lanes calm traffic and reduce injury to both cyclists and pedestrians. The many Communities who have spoken up—such as CBs 2, 7 and 8—now enjoy safer and more livable streets with pedestrian plazas and bike lanes for children, seniors, for us all.

Bike Upper Manhattan and Inwood-Washington Heights Livable Streets Group are ready to work with Community Board 12, the Department of Transportation, and the Parks Department to recommend design improvements tailored to our diverse neighborhoods, to launch public education and outreach to make our streets and parks safer and more livable for all residents and visitors, and to MAKE IT HAPPEN.

OUR VISION

A neighborhood where people of all ages, abilities and income-levels can:

safely cycle, walk or skate to work or school feel comfortable riding or walking with their

children to parks & cultural institutions have realistic alternatives to fossil-fueled

transportation for trips in & out of Manhattan have a less expensive means of travel

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THE PROBLEM: UNSAFE CONDITIONSwithin a vehicle-oriented traffic infrastructure

Our streets and avenues are congested with vehicular traffic – and with parked (and double-parked) vehicles.

Double parking blocks traffic of all kinds: bikes, pedestrians and vehicles

Cars and trucks frequently double park in unprotected bike lanes

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Drivers ignore unprotected bike lanes on our streets, putting the lives of cyclists in danger.

Drivers ignore unmarked, unpainted,unprotected bike lanes

Double parking in unprotected lanesforces cyclists into traffic

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We have only one block of protected bike lane, on St. Nicholas Avenue between Amsterdam Ave and 163rd Street

Street surfaces are eroded and dangerous to both pedestrians and bikers.

Uphill eroded pavement entering 181st St. from the Westside Greenway

Eroded, unprotected bike lane in Inwood8

Buckling pavement on Broadway in Inwood

Some bridges require dismounting; others have no access.

Henry Hudson Bridge Broadway Bridge

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Access to the Westside Greenway is circuitous, steep – or stairs.

Westside Greenway at 181st St.: a steep drop!

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No bike access over steps in Inwood Hill Park

Only stair access at the end of Dyckman Street

VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY: “I have begun biking with two teenage children…we were dismayed by how difficult it is to access the Greenway…the steps we have to use to access [it] are a challenge and discourage us from biking there more often.” —Gabrielle Shatan, NY

Commuting to work in lower Manhattan is a real problem.

The Waterfront Greenway system is incomplete and inaccessible to many of our residents on both East and West sides.

There are no North-South protected lanes other than on the Greenways.

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The Westside and Eastside Greenways do not connect – and lead cyclists into congested and dangerous streets

Dyckman Street at end of Westside Greenway:no bike lane and heavy, 2-way, 4-lane traffic

Cyclists exiting Westside Greenway at the 181St St. overpass face oncoming traffic at the Henry Hudson Parkway on-ramp

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VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY: “Riverside Drive and Dyckman Streets are a dangerous place to dump cyclists, inline skaters and pedestrians off the Greenway. Please connect the east and west bike lanes and protect the many uptown cyclists making this trek daily.”—L. Skeddle, NY

The Eastside Greenway is accessible only at its ends: the southern entrance at Harlem River Drive and the northern entrance at 10th Ave. and Dyckman Street.

Eastside Greenway entrance on the Harlem River Drive involves crossing a highway on-ramp.

Eastside Greenway is inaccessible to all pedestrians and bikers between 155th and

Dyckman Streets.

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THE CONSEQUENCES:• Our residents cannot safely walk, skate or bike

to area parks, cultural attractions or stores.

• Anyone wanting to bike or walk safely around the northern tip of Manhattan, or travel to/from New Jersey, Riverdale, the Bronx and beyond, cannot do so safely.

• Commuting to work by bike is too unsafe for most residents to risk.

• Putting our children on bikes to ride to school or to enjoy the outdoors and get exercise on weekends is simply unthinkable.

• With no safe, protected bike lanes, some residents and delivery cyclists choose to ride on the sidewalks – endangering pedestrians.

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BUT… our streets can be much more than congested highways and parking lots in disrepair; they canbe safe for anyoneto walk or ride—anywhere in WaHI—with a network of safe, protected bike lanes.

SOLUTION: Connect the Westside and Eastside Greenways

with a barrier bike lane on Dyckman Street.

Example of barrier bike lane (Union Square North)

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Complete the ramp from the Westside Greenway to Dyckman St., and construct a protected bike lane, with planted barriers, along Dyckman St. to the Eastside Greenway, as planned in the New York Comprehensive Waterfront Plan, Vision 2020.

NOTE: More than two years ago CB12 asked the DOT to study a “Dyckman Connector,” but no study has yet been presented by DOT.

SOLUTION: Put protected bike lanes on cross streets.

Add green painted buffered bike lanes on cross streets and near schools, where feasible, in the proximity of 155th, 165th, and 181St Streets.

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Extend Greenway north of 181st Street in path like that in the 80s - 90s in lower Manhattan

Potential trail along Hudson in Inwood Hill Park and Fields connecting to Amtrak Bridge

SOLUTION: Extend the Westside GreenwayExtend the bike and pedestrian path from the Little Red Lighthouse to the tip of Manhattan, using a portion of the Amtrak Bridge, Broadway Bridge and/or widened paths along the Hudson River.

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SOLUTION: Extend the mid-level path through High Bridge Park to run contin-uously from 155th St to Dyckman St.

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A safe North/South bike lane

Westside Greenway stairs at 168th Street could be ramped

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SOLUTION: Improve access to the George Washington BridgeConstruct a more direct protected path with a safer rise from the Westside path to the south side of the GW Bridge – e.g., via the Amtrak pedestrian overpass at 168th St.

Unprotected bike lane on St. Nicholas Avenue ends abruptly at busy intersection with Broadway & 168th St

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SOLUTION: Upgrade North-South bike lanes to protected lanes & make them continuous.Likely candidates: St. Nicholas, Broadway, Bennett, Seaman, Fort Washington, Riverside, Edgecombe and/or Tenth Avenues from 155th St. to the Broadway Bridge; where street width does not permit a class upgrade, repave with durable surface, paint lanes solid green and connect them.

VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY: “I routinely get run off the road by city buses, please get a proper bike lane going up Broadway!” —Rui Soares, NY

BENEFITS OF BIKE AND PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS in

Washington Heights and Inwood

•Safer and easier mobility for pedestrians and bikers •Traffic calming•Less air and noise pollution•Less expensive commuting •Less dependence on fossil fuels•Less crowding on subways and buses•More green and enhanced street aesthetics •Better physical and mental health •Better use of limited street space for ALL residents… not just for the 20% of our residents who drive.

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Continuous protected bike lanes will provide all Manhattan residents with safe access to country bike paths to the West, North and East.

Swindler’s Cove Park Harlem Valley

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Continuous protected bike lanes will allow Washington Heights & Inwood residents to commute cheaply and safely with no negative

environmental impact and a positive impact on their health and happiness.

Class 1 bike lane, downtown Westside Greenway, downtown

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A network of protected bike lanes will allow our children to feel the freedom, joy, and simple pleasure of a safe ride on a bike.

Harlem Valley

NYC Bike Day 2010

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VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY:“The Little Red Lighthouse next to the GWB is so close but so dangerous to get to with a toddler on the steep path. Please improve the route so that we can all enjoy our proximity to the waterfront.” —Diana Laing, NY

MORE VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY:

• I live in Inwood and bicycle regularly through our neighborhoods and on the greenways to and from work. We need safer and more accessible bicycle routes to get more people biking and improve our community's health. A small investment in our bicycling infrastructure would provide so many benefits to the community. —Daniel O'Neil, NY

• Northern Manhattan lags behind other parts of New York City in providing safe passage for pedestrians and bicyclists. It is rich in potential… it could be and should be the hub of non-motorized transportation for the region. What is needed is connectors to the greenways and GWB and accommodations for pedestrians and bicyclists within Washington Heights and Inwood and over the Harlem River bridges. I'm glad that there is interest in the local Community Board to make this happen. —James Zisfein, NY

• We need the west and east side greenways to connect… as well as the continuation of the east side greenway… Bicycling in northern Manhattan is dangerous. The drivers do not respect pedestrians or bicyclists. Future plans for the widening of all bike lanes should also be under consideration. Painted traffic lines that exist on some portions of the greenways are needed everywhere. Thank you from a commuting bicyclist who isn't lucky enough to be able to access a greenway to work. —Beth Powmesamy, NY

• My health would be better if I could bike more frequently, especially because it's a form of exercise I love. I would like to see more bike and pedestrian friendly infrastructure, so that more people will ride and walk rather than driving. —Karin Timour, NY

• Community Board 12, please request New York City Parks Department and Department of Transportation to extend the Greenways and New York City’s network of protected bike and pedestrian lanes into Washington Heights and Inwood. We deserve the same access other neighborhoods have. —Deborah Munczek, NY

• Common sense. Better environment, aesthetics and public health. Why has it taken so long?? — John E. Halsey, NY

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Co-Sponsored by Bike Upper Manhattan (http://www.bikeup.org) and Inwood-Washington Heights Livable Streets

Photographs courtesy of Lars Klove, Maggie Clarke & RoughAcres/RL McKee

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We, the petitioners, request the Traffic and Transportation Committee of Community Board 12, and the full Board, to pass a resolution requesting that New York city’s Departments of Transportation and Parks extend New York City’s network of greenways and protected street bike lanes into our neighborhoods, so cyclists and pedestrians can safely and easily circle the northern tip of Manhattan and bike to school, to work, to points South of Washington Heights and Inwood in Manhattan, and beyond Manhattan to the West, North and East.

Thank you.