Three inches of snow fell last week and the familiar pattern emerges again: 24 hours later, car lanes are immaculate. Bike lanes and walk lanes are still messy and dangerous.
The Sanitation Department recently boasted of their smaller equipment to deal with bike lanes. But, as the picture above shows, there are still large patches of ice on bike lanes and pedestrian crossings three days after the storm. Someone is going to get hurt. We complained many times about ponding at this intersection. But DOT does not seem willing to address this issue.
Sanitation’s mission has always been to clear the roadway. Well, bike lanes, corners, crossings and bus stops are in the roadway.
But this agency, like many others, have not adjusted to reality. The 2022 snow plan says: “After streets have been addressed, municipal parking lots, bike lanes, and pedestrian infrastructure are also cleared of snow” – AFTER ! WHY? All focused on cars – never mind that pedestrians were here well before the cars and bike lanes were introduced 15 years ago.
One year ago, Manhattan CB4 published the results of a survey which shows that 62% of respondents and 69% Persons with Disabilities rated as poor or very poor City’s job of clearing snow from the walking infrastructure. MCB4 just sent a letter to Sanitation to better understand their practices and obtain specific answers.