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QUEENS WEEKLY, AUGUST 11, 2019
JVB pushes for more
bike lanes across LIC
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer presents a map of proposed protected bike lanes in Long
Island City. Photo: Max Parrott/QNS
BY MAX PARROTT
Councilman Jimmy
Van Bramer was several
minutes late to the presser
to unveil his comprehensive
bike plan.
After he pedaled up
to the gaggle of reporters
waiting at the corner of
the Pulaski Bridge and
Jackson Avenue in Long
Island City, he said that his
bike ride to the event was
“sweaty but revealing.”
When he biked to end of the
protected lane on Skillman
Avenue, he shot out into
the middle of bumper-tobumper
car traffic and felt
unsafe. This is the exact
problem he set out that
morning to address.
“We need protected bike
lane networks throughout
every neighborhood
across all five boroughs,
and today, I’m calling
on the Department of
Transportation to start in
Long Island City,” said Van
Bramer in his speech.
Van Bramer gathered
members of Transportation
Alternatives and
Bike New York on
Wednesday morning to
call on the Department
of Transportation to
implement a five-mile
protected bike lane
network that would span
Long Island City. The
councilman revealed the
proposal shortly after the
18th bicyclist death in
the city as well as Mayor
de Blasio’s promise to
ramp up the city’s bike
infrastructure with a $58
million plan, dubbed the
“Green Wave,” which would
commit to build 30 miles
of protected bike lanes
across the five boroughs
each year.
The councilman
and the bike advocates
explained that their idea
for a neighborhood plan
was meant to advise
the DOT to start taking
a neighborhood-byneighborhood
approach
to building bike lanes in a
connected pattern, rather
than a piecemeal approach
of building small stretches
of bike lanes scattered in
different neighborhoods.
Juan Restrepo, the
Queens Organizer
for Transportation
Alternatives, explained
that they thought Long
Island City is the best place
to begin this approach in
Queens because it’s a hub
for bike commuters on
their way to Manhattan
in addition to its
cultural offerings.
“This vision will create
a #BikeNeighborhood by
connecting the Queensboro
and Pulaski Bridges,
homes, schools, businesses,
cultural institutions,
parks, waterfront and
more. Protected bike lanes
help children, parents,
seniors access and enjoy
the benefits of cycling,”
said Laura Shepard of Bike
New York.
Asked to clarify how
this proposal connects
to the mayor’s “Green
Wave” plan, Restrepo
said that it was meant
to exceed the minimum
recommendations that the
plan sets out. He added
that the recommendation
was not meant to come
at the exclusion of other
bike lane projects across
the borough.
“We’re not saying DOT
should work on this first,
exclusively. We think
the DOT has the role and
imperative to really look
at being visionaries – to
really revitalize how they
do their process. This is
a neighborhood system
of bike lanes. Typically
the DOT works on a
street-by-street basis,”
said Restrepo.
Read more at QNS.com.
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/QNS.com
