Tonight: Defend Safety on Prospect Park West

Via Transporation Alternatives comes this plea to attend tonight’s CB6 meeting.  Please be there.

—

This Thursday evening, the Department of Transportation will present its safety findings regarding the Prospect Park West bicycle lanes and traffic calming project to Community Board 6. Join Transportation Alternatives at this critical meeting as we call upon the Department of Transportation to “POUR THE CONCRETE” and make the safer Prospect Park West permanent. Bring your neighbors and be prepared to speak up.

Transportation Alternatives has gotten word that a NIMBY group, day lighting as “Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes,” is using their political connections to try and get the Prospect Park West bike lane removed. They will be the only voice at this meeting if you do not attend.

Don’t let a small but well-connected group of NIMBYs steal a safer Prospect Park West from Park Slope residents.

Where: Old First Reformed Church, 729 Carroll Street at 7th Avenue (Q/B to 7th Avenue)
When: Thursday, January 20th, 6:30pm

Let’s not let “Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes” tell anymore lies. Here are the facts about the new design of Prospect Park West:

It improves safety – Park Slope Neighbors’ before and after speed surveys showed that the new design reduced average speeds by 25%, increased compliance with the speed limit five-fold and reduced the proportion of cars speeding 40 mph or faster from 30% to just 1.4%. This is all the result of replacing one of Prospect Park West’s travel lanes with a protected, two-way bike path and pedestrian refuge islands. The street carries the same volume of cars as it did before, they just aren’t speeding.

The community asked for it – The new Prospect Park West was born out of community concern with unsafe driving and speeding on the corridor. The project’s development and implementation has been supported consistently over several years by Community Board 6, local elected officials, civic organizations and thousands of Park Slope residents and users of Prospect Park.

Councilman Brad Lander’s recent survey speaks to the broad-based community support: http://bradlander.com/ppwsurvey

• Among the 3,150 respondents: 78% support the new Prospect Park West
• Among the 2,210 respondents living in Park Slope: 71% support the new Prospect Park West
• 85% of survey respondents feel that the project has very much or somewhat met the goal of reducing speeding
• 91% feel it has very much or somewhat met the goal of creating a safer space for biking
• 70% also feel that the project has very much or somewhat made Prospect Park West easier to cross

The small group of opponents, who cannot handle change, are simply out of touch with what the majority of the neighborhood wants and needs to be safe.