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New York begins adding concrete barriers to bike pathEntrance to Manhattan Cycle Path at West Houston Street (via StreetView).jpg

New York begins adding concrete barriers to bike path

Campaigners have been calling for such measures for a decade
by Alex Bowden
Sat, Nov 04, 2017 10:44
5

Shortly after the Hudson River Park Bikeway reopened on Thursday, New York authorities began placing hundreds of large concrete barriers at junctions to prevent vehicles from entering. Sayfullo Saipov is accused of driving a truck down the cycle path on Tuesday, killing eight people and injuring 12.

While most of the path is edged by concrete and other barriers, campaigners have been calling for bollards to be installed at entrance points after a cyclist was hit and killed by a drunk-driver over a decade ago.

Ben Sarle, a spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio, told the New York Times that concrete barriers would be placed at both vehicle and pedestrian junctions between 59th Street and Battery Park, along the West Side Highway.

The State Department of Transportation will put in six concrete barriers at each of the 31 vehicle access points and two large concrete cubes at each of the 26 pedestrian access points.

“After these safety measures are installed, there may be areas at the intersections that will be more narrow than they used to be,” said Sarle. “But, I would trade a little speed for substantially more safety any day.”

He did however add that the barriers’ positioning could be altered if they were resulting in too much congestion.

New York
Hudson River Park Bikeway
Alex Bowden

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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5 comments

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brooksby | 7 years ago
4 likes

I dunno: everyone goes on about how hard it is to get protective infrastructure built, when clearly all it takes is a terrorist incident... Easy-peasy.

Avatar
janusz0 replied to brooksby | 7 years ago
0 likes
brooksby wrote:

I dunno: everyone goes on about how hard it is to get protective infrastructure built, when clearly all it takes is a terrorist incident... Easy-peasy.

Well it would be nice to see Tower Hamlets' style bollards appearing along the kerbs of all streets to stop vehicles driving onto pavements. However, it seems that, instead there are a few new barriers, confined to bridges in London.

Avatar
brooksby replied to janusz0 | 7 years ago
0 likes

janusz0 wrote:
brooksby wrote:

I dunno: everyone goes on about how hard it is to get protective infrastructure built, when clearly all it takes is a terrorist incident... Easy-peasy.

Well it would be nice to see Tower Hamlets' style bollards appearing along the kerbs of all streets to stop vehicles driving onto pavements. However, it seems that, instead there are a few new barriers, confined to bridges in London.

I guess I meant that locals have been asking for infrastructure at that site for ten years, and the council kept saying it was too inconvenient and too expensive, then it happens within days of this incident so clearly it was actually neither and was more like the city council just couldn't be arsed...

Avatar
kitsunegari replied to brooksby | 7 years ago
0 likes

brooksby wrote:

I guess I meant that locals have been asking for infrastructure at that site for ten years, and the council kept saying it was too inconvenient and too expensive, then it happens within days of this incident so clearly it was actually neither and was more like the city council just couldn't be arsed...

I wonder if  they're able to get central government funding for response to incidents like this rather than having to use local money? Not sure how it works over there.

Avatar
BarryBianchi | 7 years ago
0 likes

Ooooh - concrete barrier Whack-a-mole!

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