As our reader Michael McGrinder commented: “The word sidewalk implies a place for walking, not walking sideways”.
Chekpeds testified at the City council asking for just that : official well defined Walk Lanes – which are dedicated, unobstructed space on sidewalks or in the street- for pedestrians to walk. Today this goes by the obscure name of “pedestrian right of way” which is ignored by all agencies and enforcement personnel, who happily trample pedestrians rights.
A A City council bill would create a five year plan for Transportation: it defines immediate projects and benchmarks for bike lanes, bus lanes and plazas. The projects for ADA and pedestrians would start in 5 years.
CHEKPEDS proposes adding “Protected Walk Lanes” to the Master Plan’s projects and benchmarks immediately, including protected and ADA-compliant intersections, in order to address the 11 million of people who walk for at least part of their trips everyday. See our testimony here.
Manhattan CB4 Transporation Committee just voted in favor of such a plan.
And, Community Board 4 just voted unanimously for the clear pedestrian lane plan at its July 25 summer meeting submitted to City Council to modify the NYCDOT Five Year Plan to include pedestrian right of way. CB4 has Ninth Avenue, which had its sidewalks narrowed more than seventy years ago to make more car room for the Lincoln Tunnel and Eighth Avenue (share with CB5) which has massive pedestrian commuting to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. If you want to see how it works, look at the recent DOT work between W43 and W42 Sts. On Eighth Ave.’s West side to see pedestrians walking in an expanded protective lane of their own.