DOT Installs Bike Lane Signs On Oriental Blvd, Infuriating Manhattan Beach Civics


by on Jan 9th, 2012

With a tainted history of traffic accidents and the death of a 4-year-old boy, Oriental Boulevard is now sporting brand new bike lane signs courtesy of the New York City Department of Transportation. The agency hopes the signs will provide a safer street, but local leaders are incensed, saying the signs indicate the agency is backtracking on community-led initiatives that the agency had previously appeared to support.

The signs went up in the final days of 2011, providing more prominent markers for Oriental Boulevard’s bike lanes that have been there for several years. According to the DOT, workers simply replaced existing signs; but locals say there are now more of them – and it’s a misplaced priority.

Both of Manhattan Beach’s two civic associations have complained about the bike lanes, saying that speeders often ignore the lines and turn the strip into a raceway. After several years of trying, the groups felt they gained ground when they met separately with representatives of the Department of Transportation last year, sporting several proposals for improved safety – including relocation of the bike lanes to Shore Boulevard.

With installation of the new signs, it seems the lanes are destined for permanence, and the groups are outraged that their proposals fell on deaf ears.

“The ‘in your face’ bicycle lane signage just placed on Oriental Boulevard is out of line with what is needed in this community,” wrote Judy Baron, Traffic chairperson for Manhattan Beach Community Group (MBCG), in a response on their website. ”Protect us FIRST and then DOT can discuss bicycle riding, especially when the current bike lanes are not only dangerous, add to the problems and are virtually unused.”

The Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association is also disappointed with the new bike lane development, and the lack of concern for their other proposals.

“The only people who aren’t doing anything about [safety] is the DOT,” said Edmond Dweck of the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association. “The DOT is ignoring Manhattan Beach; they’re listening to everyone else but us.”

While Sheepshead Bites was on scene for a photo, a car was seen driving for several blocks in the bike lane.)

Dweck feels that the whole bike lane should be completely removed because “people just don’t respect lines these days.” (When Sheepshead Bites visited Oriental Boulevard for a photograph, we watched as one car drove several blocks in the bike lane while the rest of the roadway was completely empty.) He suggested a possible solution to prevent future speedsters is by having traffic lights on the boulevard.

The Manhattan Beach Community Group has also called for the elimination of the zebra stripes and bike lanes, and proposed installing a safety lane along the median that, at corners, serves as a left turn bay. Also, they want the speed limit to be reduced to 20 mph.

“To think that the most important action DOT Kings County could come up with is BIKE LANE signs is incomprehensible!” wrote Baron. “Tell that to the parents of the small child who was killed last year on Oriental Boulevard. Tell that to the 1500 people who signed our petition to the Mayor to DO something to stop the speeding in our community!!!”

The DOT, however, stands by its decision, saying that the increased number of bicycle lanes have led to safer streets citywide. Preliminary data for 2011 shows that the streets of New York City are safer than ever, with an indication of traffic fatalities being the lowest it has ever been in the city’s recorded history, said a DOT spokesperson.

In its Pedestrian Safety Report and Action Plan, the DOT has found that streets with bike lanes on them are 40 percent less deadly for pedestrians. The data reflects the city in its entirety, not just Oriental Boulevard.

Complaints about the new bike lane signs come just a little over a year and three months since the tragic bus accident on Oriental Boulevard that claimed the life of young Evan Svirsky.

“By having the bike lane up, she [the DOT commissioner] is just putting put another feather in her hat instead of preventing another child from dying,” said Dweck.

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  • Barkingspider07

    No neighborhood needs a bike lane – they are dangerous.  If people want exercise, let them walk. It’s much safer.

    • Tman2a

      For majority of riders its commute, not exercise. Within a borough it is very efficient mode of transportation. Cyclists need to learn to abey traffic law though…I cycle almost daily and hate to see other riders going wrong way or crossing on the red light…

      • nolastname

        I saw this guy in the turning lane on Ocean Avenue….waiting on his cycle behind a car to make the turn. I was stunned to see this….the funny part, he was not wearing a helmet. 

        • Anonymous

          You may be stunned, but that’s a legal and safe way of making a left turn on a bicycle. Helmets are not required by law, and are not a safety panacea. You may be stunned to hear that nobody uses them in countries such as the Netherlands or Denmark, where cycling is ubiquitous.

    • nolastname

      Oh no, Barkingspider didn’t….you must be in a fighting mood (I mean debate). LOL

      • Barkingspider07

        Not in a fighting or debate mood at all.  Too many times, while driving up Bedford Avenue, the cyclists cut in front of the cars and do NOT obey traffic laws.  They blow through the lights, go through stop signs, drive outside the bike lanes.  Then, if I or any other driver were to hit them, we would be at fault, not the cyclists.  I just feel that they are very dangerous.

        • nolastname

          I couldn’t agree more. I just gave the topic (not the fight) up.  ;-)

        • Guest

          What you say sir (or madam) is nothing but the truth! 100% accurate.

        • Andrew

          Drivers, of course, are in full compliance with the law at all times.  In fact, there was just a post the other week insisting that speed cameras were unnecessary because drivers never, ever speed.  (Did I get that right?)

    • Bike lanes are traffic calming

      Not true.

  • BrooklynBus

    One thing I’ve learned is that you can make statistics say anything you want them to. I don’t believe for one minute that streets are safer today and streets with bike lanes are safer than other streets. Doesn’t Ocean Parkway have an off-street bike lane, the safest kind? Are there less accidents there than on Coney Island Avenue or Ocean Avenue without bike lanes? Where are those statistics?

    If DOT really believed in safety, they would at least maintain the bike lanes so they are not riddled with potholes and replace street markings before they are totally worn out. They are totally out of touch and do whatever they please.

    • Anonymous

      I agree with your statement about statistics. They are so easily manipulated.
      I do think streets with bike lanes are safer for the cyclists using them. Protected bike lanes are the best. The cyclists doesnt have to worry about the motorist and vice versa. I would say that makes it safer.

    • Andrew

      In other words, when the data disagree with your gut feeling, the data must be wrong.

      Is that right?

    • CB

      Off street bike lanes are not necessarily the safest. Whenever a bicyclist crosses a street, with a green light, on the Ocean Parkway bike path, drivers of motor vehicles turning left or right from OP are likely to NOT see the cyclist, or pedestrians, crossing. There is also the situation that a car waiting at a red light from a side street often waits in the crosswalk, not because the driver is intentionally blocking the crosswalk, but because traffic conditions force the car to move into that space. When these two phenomena are combined, it makes for a tricky, dangerous situation for both pedestrians and cyclists.

      • http://www.nedberke.com Ned Berke

        Agreed, Ocean Pkwy bike path can be very dangerous for bikers. It looks so safe, so you think you can go fast so long as you have the lights, but a car will whip around the turn without even a glance at the bike lane. I almost lost my life that way a couple of summers ago.

  • Guest

    Bloomberg and Khan do not care about you.

  • KO

    You can put up all the signs or stripes you want if drivers/ cyclists/ pedestrians do not obey them it is pointless. A permanent barrier might solve some of the problems but it wil not solve all. I bike there inthe summers for excersize ad i do mot feel safe at all! In the summers people pull into the bike lanes to loa and unload which makes it more dangerous when having to go around those cars.

    I personally stand about 3 feet back or crosswalks unroll it is safe to cross te street for the safety of my self and my family.

  • ALRHA

    As a lifetime resident, I happen to be in favor of the Bike Lanes on Oriental and really think there are better things to worry about than aluminum “Bike Lane” signs.

  • Valokostark
  • http://www.njluxurymotors.com Arthur Borko

    I know this is a horrible thing to say, but just wait till someone in that bike lane dies….What is the DOT commish gonna say then?

    • Barkingspider07

      I have to agree with Arthur.  100%

    • nolastname

      It would be horrible…What would they say if it was a bus that killed a biker?
      From the pic. unless the busses are going to stop in traffic and let people run across the bike lane to the sidewalk then the busses will be pulling into the bike lane to discharge passengers…..Go figure.

    • Andrew

      I don’t know.  What does she say when people die in the car lanes?

  • Anonymous

    The mention of a bike lane causes the hair of non-cyclists to stand on end. We should be trying to figure out how to slow down the maniacal motorists…especially in this neighborhood. I admit, I drive more than I bike, but it’s so much easier to get from place to place on a bike than in a car.

    • MB Guest

      If you have ample time to peddle, a place to clean up, don’t have to carry much, do well in the cold and against 25mph headwinds, have the stamina for the hill at prospect park twice a day (and two bridge trips if you are going to the city), don’t mind getting wet dozens of days a year, have a plow for snowy days, aren’t very old, pregnant, tired after 12 hours at work, or anything else like that then perhaps cycling is the way to go.  You may also want to consider that you won’t be able to take your bike on the train at rush hour.

      I drive more than 60,000 miles a year in this city and I used to cycle close to 8,000 miles a year.  It’s not hard at all getting around by car.  There are very few situations where a bicycle trip will be easier or quicker than a car trip if the bicycle obeys all the traffic rules they are supposed to (exception for the sub one mile trips).  I get from my home in MB to Chelsea during rush hours in usually about an hour, door to door.  I also don’t smell like a gym sock when I get to work.

      As for slowing motorists down, never gonna happen unless you want to turn the whole neighborhood into a giant speed bump with a red light camera on every corner.  And even then, the same idiots will still find a way to be dangerous except now your suspension will have to be replaced and they’ll be more agitated and impatient.

      • Anonymous

        That’s why I drive more than I bike.
        Picking the time and place for each makes for a more pleasant experience either way.

      • Commuter

        There are plenty of other times to bike than just to and from work.  Even on days when I don’t or can’t ride my bike to work, I do find it helpful for quick trips around the neighborhood.  I can cycle to the store and be in and out faster than I can usually find a parking space if I drive.

        Don’t set up a false dichotomy between choosing one or the other for every trip.  The point here is to let people have safe choices.  If we can get a few people out of their cars who are only going two or three miles to run an errand that will make the streets less congested for the old, tired, or pregnant people who absolutely have no other choice but to drive.

        Imagine if all of the other people who drove to Chelsea but lived within easy cycling distance chose to commute by bike!  Your drive would be even better!

  • LifeLongBrooklynite

    Where are the police?  Why are they not enforcing the reckless driving by speeding cars?  Cars and their drivers are killing people, not cyclists.
    The DOT may lay out bike lanes and hang signs, but it is the Commissioner of the Police Department who is supposed to be enforcing traffic safety and traffic law.
    Commissioner Ray Kelly has been ignoring his responsibilities – and the mayor has been letting him get away with it. 
    It’s the Police, not DOT we need to be calling on the carpet.

    • Guest

      “Cars and their drivers are killing people, not cyclists.”      How foolish of us. ALL cyclist obey the law and never ever cause any accidents.

      • Guest

        They don’t tend to kill people though.

        • Guest

          Knocking people over and severely injuring them is ok then I guess.

          • Guest

            Not ok. But I will still take that over death.

  • Anonymous

    The new year is barely two weeks old and already a few people have been killed by automobiles.  Zero by bikes. 

    • Another Guest

      So?  Several orders of magnitude more people use cars than bikes.  How many of those deaths are cyclists who cut a car off, pulled around and passed on the right while a driver was executing a turn, or ran a red light anyway?  How many people died in airplanes last year, or trains.  Life is risky.  Pay attention and you’ll be fine.

      • Guest

        But cars cause more deaths than pretty much all other modes of transportation combined. Cars are made safer to help protect their occupants. Almost nothing is ever done to increase the safety of anyone/anything being hit by cars.

      • Anonymous

        I don’t disagree.  But with the level of hysteria surrounding bike lanes in this neighborhood, you’d think they were the biggest threat to life and limb.  The hysteria and anger surrounding bike lanes is several orders of magnitude bigger than the anger surrounding death or injury by automobile.

  • Anonymous

    In this article that recounts the angst of the Manhattan Beach residents, their threat is stated to come from drivers of speeding cars who expect the world to scatter and skitter away at the sight of them. The child that was killed last year was hit by a bus. But their fury is against bike lanes. They can’t seem to listen to themselves. They hate bike lanes because they hate the mayor & co. Someone get a group rate for an optometrist.

    • Anonymous

      Or a therapist.

  • Bike lanes are traffic calming

    Wow, sounds like Dweck and Baron need to learn a bit about modern traffic engineering, because their statements don’t make much sense.

  • Guest

    Bike lanes do not belong on city streets at all. They belong in parks.

    • Other Guest

      Cars do not belong in cities at all.  They belong in suburbs.

      • Another Guest

        Cars aren’t going anywhere no matter how much you, bloomberg and kahn wish they would.  The more you restrict driving, the more dangerous you will make things for pedestrians.  Enjoy!

        • Still another guest

          Enjoy your high gas prices!

          • Another Guest

            You must be really, really poor if you think these gas prices are high.

          • Still another guest

            They will be eventually.  Enjoy the future.

          • Guest

            Enjoy your inflated ego!

          • Another Guest

            OK but you’ve still failed so bad that you think $3.50 is a lot of money.

      • Guest

        Cars were here in place on city streets long before the bike craving hipster crowd came and saw the bike nazi as their savior. Go live somewhere else if you hate cars so much. Cars will always be part of this world. The streets are not for children which is how most cyclist act.

        • Calm down

          Wow, somebody has anger issues, and a narrow view of how our streets work.

          • Another Guest

            No Guest is fine.  Go build your “Complete Streets” somewhere else.  The rest of us have real work to do and need cars to get it done.  Stop interfering with our ability to efficiently get around.

          • Dont be silly

            “Stop interfering with our ability to efficiently get around.”

            The only people doing that are other drivers, and the politicians that make policy to subsidized driving over other modes of transportation.

          • Andrew

            Thank you.  Traffic jams are caused by too many cars.  If some of those drivers could be persuaded to leave their cars at home (or sell them) and use some other mode to get where they’re going, then you wouldn’t be stuck in traffic as often.

          • Andrew

            Most New Yorkers don’t even have cars, let alone drive them everywhere.

            Bike lanes on Oriental Blvd. aren’t interfering with anyone who chooses to drive.  And if they make it easier or safer for people who choose to bike, what’s the proble?

        • Guest

          Someone needs to brush up on their history. Bikes came before cars. And in fact, it was cyclists who pushed for paved streets. You’re welcome.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/James-Donohue/100001683191319 James Donohue

    The Bike Lane and the Buffer Zone are out of proportion. I believe the current Federal Standard calls for a Five Foot Bike Lane with a TWO Foot Buffer Zone.

    The Buffer Zone on Oriental Blvd. is so wide it looks crazy.

    • nolastname

      2 feet? A person in a wheel chair takes up more than 3 feet. 2 feet is not much of a buffer. There will be people leaving the beach standing in this buffer zone.
      Still wondering about the bus stops.

    • Andrew

      The bike lane plus buffer zone are the width of a car lane, because there used to be a car lane in that space.  The only way to narrow the buffer is to narrow the roadway, which I think would be helpful but would probably also be costly.

      • guest

         When your mayor leaves town I can’t wait for them to tear up all the bike lanes and dangerous traffic islands giving the streets back to the people. No more pedestrians being hit by senseless bicycles. No more drivers having to be terrified about moron cyclist running into them by running through red lights. Less traffic congestion caused by removing car lanes that have been in place for decades before nepolian rolled into town. Can’t wait to see all you hipster faces.

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  • Osito

    I can’t believe some of the comments here!

    Let me get this straight, you think bikes and pedestrians are dangerous, and cars and trucks are safe? Alrighty then, live in your fantasy world! Ignore the thousands killed by cars and trucks annually.

    • Another Guest

      Cars and the infrastructure to support them exist for a million good reasons that only some arrogant clown living in one of the most prosperous cities in the world could possibly have time to perform the mental gymnastics to deny.  Thousands of people are killed every year by the technology that makes your life liveable.  It’s far, far better than the alternative reality that most of the world lives under.  If you don’t like cars because you think there are too many of them then I say shut down the damned MTA because I have yet to ride a train where there weren’t way, way more people than capacity.  It’s the same damned logic that you idiots use to claim moral superiority over cars.  How many people have died to keep the electrical grid that powers your trains moving?  How many people have experienced unnecessary illness because they were packed like sardines with sick people.  How many women have been assaulted waiting for trains at late hours?  How many billions of hours of people’s lives have been wasted by the MTA.  Cars are no worse than any other form of transportation.

      Regardless of whatever you may have to say, cars aren’t going anywhere no matter how much anyone tries to squeeze them.

  • Osito

    No one will be tearing up the bike lanes.

    There will (thankfully) be more and more over time, because they’re supported by New Yorkers. Every poll finds that New Yorkers support bike lanes by a significant margin, and that the relative level of support rises with youth.

    This means that, over time, bike lanes will become more and more popular, as old folks pass on and younger folks take the reigns of power.

    And, of course, every single serious mayoral candidate in NYC supports bike lane expansion. The only candidate who opposes the lanes was Weiner, and he’s gone.

    So, sorry, anti-biking crazies. You are in the minority, and your numbers are shrinking by the day. If you’re so car crazy and anti everything else, you should realize that NYC is the only city in the U.S. where the majority of folks don’t own vehicles.

    The 60% of NYC households without cars will carry the day, and future investments will favor transit, pedestrians and bicyclists, not hulking SUVs.  

    • Another Guest

      The roads aren’t going anywhere.  Car owners may be a minority but every single person in this city utilizes the services that roads provide.  Choke the roads at your own peril.

    • guest

      Your numbers are ridiculously inflated. But we expect nothing less from hipsters. Sorry anti-car morons. Most New Yorkers do not support the dangerous bike lanes which have been forced upon us because the baby didn’t get his congestion pricing. Maybe if you picked up an actual New York newspaper instead of the park slope pooper scooper you’d know that.

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