Let’s install traf c controls that account for bike lanes

BY RICHARD KHUZAMI

New York City continues to come up way short in providing a safe environment on our streets. We cannot accept tragedies anymore like the recent truck-bicyclist fatality on 24th Avenue in Astoria. ere is no excuse.

Too much rhetoric on this issue focuses on blame: Who causes what? But an accident causing serious injury or death is life-changing to all involved. Even if someone did not cause the accident, they are still scarred for life.

We should stop worrying about blame and instead create common-sense solutions that make the streets safer for all.

e Old Astoria Neighborhood Association’s position is twopronged: No block should have a bike lane installed without the appropriate tra c controls. And all blocks currently with bike lanes should have the appropriate tra c controls.

As the city’s transportation network evolves, many changes are happening. Nontraditional forms of travel such as bicycles, electric scooters, skateboards, in-line skates, one-wheel scooters and other innovative vehicles are gaining in popularity.

It would be irresponsible to create bike lanes without instituting the proper tra c controls.

Installing dedicated stop signs and tra c and turning lights on the bike lanes is just as important as any concrete barrier. Perhaps more so.

Following traf c controls

Many people complain that cyclists and users of other nontraditional transit do not follow tra c laws, but without tra c controls people often have no choice.

As Transportation Alternatives member Steve Sco eld says, “For cyclists, often obeying tra c signals designed for cars is less safe than doing something technically illegal. Having a green light that both allows cyclists to proceed straight and cars to turn across the bike lane is a recipe for disaster, as we’ve seen all too frequently. For example, cyclists often go through a red signal if there's no cross trafc, to get a jump on cars lined up behind the red. is is because these cars will often turn into a cyclist’s path once the light is green. Also, it’s frequently safer for a cyclist to make a left from the left lane on a red light if there’s no cross tra c than it is waiting for the green and having cars whizzing by him on both sides while waiting for an opening to turn.” president & ceo K.C. Crain group publisher Jim Kirk publisher/executive editor

(Sco eld was not speaking for TA.)

Turning automobiles and trucks have blind spots. eir drivers often cannot see someone passing on their right or left.

Examples of what works are the bike-turning lights on Second Avenue, where several intersections have timed signals dedicated to bike lanes.

Frederick P. Gabriel Jr.

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If that technology had been installed on 24th Avenue, perhaps the recent fatality could have been avoided.

Automobile usage in the city probably will be declining, while the number of people using alternative forms of transit will increase. An investment in common-sense tra c controls could pay dividends for years to come.

Although some people might say the proposal is too expensive, how does it compare to the value of just one life?

Everyone must remember that, whatever vehicle or apparatus they are driving or riding, tra c conicts can turn it into a lethal weapon. ■

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