Park Slope Group Comes Out in Favor of 9th Street Bike Lanes

With a Community Board 6 meeting coming up on Wednesday, Park Slope Neighbors has come out in favor of the plan to add bike lanes and turning lanes to Ninth Street. Last week, with vocal opposition from Ninth Street residents, the Park Slope Civic Council voted to oppose the plan. Yesterday, PSN sent a letter in favor of the plan to CB6 and to Council Member Bill DeBlasio. Here's an excerpt:

On Thursday, March 29, the transportation committee of Community Board 6 voted in favor of the Department of Transportation’s redesign plan for 9th Street in Park Slope. Park Slope Neighbors believes that this plan provides significant safety, quality of life and environmental benefits for all of the users of the 9th Street. As such, we urge you to support this plan and hope that you will let the full Community Board know of our support.

Park Slope Neighbors supports DOT’s plan for 9th Street because it provides the following benefits to the neighborhood:

1. It significantly improves pedestrian safety along one of the most dangerous “side streets” in all of Park Slope.

2. It provides proven, effective traffic-calming on a street with a notorious speeding and reckless driving problem.

3. It enhances cyclist safety and convenience along one of our area’s key bike routes.

As I am sure you are aware, DOT’s plan is causing a certain amount of anxiety among some 9th Street residents. While we agree that DOT needs to do a much better job of bringing community stakeholders into the planning process, we believe that some of this concern has been generated by misinformation and misunderstanding...

This plan is not being dropped on the community from out of nowhere. We see this plan as a thoughtful response to community concerns. In the summer of 2004 a sedan went through the front door of Dizzy’s restaurant on 8th Avenue and 9th Street. That began a public process during which area residents collected more than 1,200 signatures urging DOT to address the long-standing pedestrian safety and reckless driving problems on 9th Street. Rather than ignoring the request or installing some street signs and calling it a day, DOT put thought and creativity into the issues raised by the neighborhood and came up with a thorough, detailed plan that will significantly improve pedestrian safety, calm traffic and provide much needed facilities for bicycling.

You can read Streets Blog's coverage of the Civic Council's vote here.

Related Post:
Park Slopers Say No to Bike Lanes on Ninth Street