A weekly roundup of good deeds, missteps, heroic feats and epic failures in the tri-state region and beyond.
Winners
New Jersey Congressman Albio Sires — Congressman Sires has introduced a bill that, if passed, would extend low-interest TIFIA loans to communities for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure projects.
New York Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell and State Senator Martin Dilan — Assemblyman O’Donnell and Senator Dilan introduced matching home rule bills that would give the New York City Council greater control over speed limits in the City.
Monroe (CT) First Selectman Steve Vavrek — Vavrek championed a new Greater Bridgeport Transit bus route which will improve access to jobs and shops on Route 25 in Monroe, which “has never had bus service, despite an abundance of businesses there.”
NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli — Just like what’s happened to MTA funding in recent years, a new report from DiNapoli’s office, says that 78 percent of New York’s dedicated road and bridge funds are “siphoned off to pay for borrowing and operating costs of state agencies.”
Losers
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey — Not only did they take away the exclusive bus lane (XBL) in the Lincoln Tunnel after the Super Bowl, but it appears the Port Authority’s recently-released capital plan doesn’t include the anticipated West Side bus garage, which means “buses will continue to park on city streets and frustrate communities from lower to upper Manhattan.”
Queens Community Board 7 — Pedestrian crossing islands are proven to make streets safer for walking, but CB7 wants them removed from College Point Boulevard because drivers in the area can’t stop crashing into them.
NYC Councilmember Antonio Reynoso — Perhaps Councilman Reynoso deserves a pass (he’s only been in office for a month) but the City’s elected leaders should be encouraging denser, more affordable housing development near transit — not restricting it.
The pedestrian islands in the article may be dangerous to pedestrians. Based on the comments in one of your links they are rectangular and hard to see. There should not have been an increase in accidents due to them, at least not to the extent implied in the article. Good intentions don’t count. The design has to meet the purpose.
In regard to the zoning issue, what type of zoning would both protect those already living in the neighborhood, protect affordable housing without major bureaucracy (the housing should be price affordable and cost the provider less than the price so the provider can make a profit) and does transit accessibility mean dense apartment high rise complexes. I am skeptical of both the councilman AND TSTC in this case.
[…] (A6089). A bill to support NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero Plan has been introduced by Senator Martin Dilan and Assemblymember Daniel O’Donnell (S6496/A8478), but would only apply to New York City roadways. There are no bills that would give […]