Your weekly guide to heroic and villainous actions in tri-state transportation and development.
Winners
New York Senator Chuck Schumer—Senator Schumer spearheaded an effort to move forward on the Connect Long Island plan [pdf], a blueprint for sustainable growth in Long Island’s largest job center.
Route 27 pedestrians and transit riders—The New Jersey Department of Transportation has made transit access safer and more pleasant by activating an innovative piece of pedestrian safety technology by Metropark Station on Route 27.
Cities of White Plains, NY and Stamford, CT—Thanks to Mayor Thomas Roach, White Plains has installed its first bike lanes. Meanwhile, Stamford moved forward on supporting pedestrian safety on Broad Street, which goes hand-in-hand with grassroots organization Reinventing Stamford’s recent community forum about creating pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly communities in the city.
MTA—On Wednesday, the MTA announced some good news for the East Side Access project: the agency has completed the third of four Queens tunnels seven weeks ahead of schedule.
New York City Council—At a hearing this week, many New York City Council members, in stark contrast to earlier attitudes, showered the New York City Department of Transportation with praise for its efforts in creating a safer, more multimodal city.
Losers
New York City Councilman David Greenfield—Councilman Greenfield has introduced legislation that would require all adult cyclists to wear helmets when riding in New York City. While Tri-State encourages helmet use, the councilman should stay focused on other bike safety enhancers: namely more bike lanes and robust traffic enforcement.
New York State Thruway Authority—This week, NYSTA sent word to our office that the state needs a fourth extension on our Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request for documents related to the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project.
Tea Party Republicans—The Cardin-Cochran amendment, which gives local communities control over federal funds that could be used for pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure improvements (among other things), is reportedly under attack in the conference committee that’s hashing out our nation’s next transportation bill. Let your federal delegation know that America’s communities need funds for life-saving infrastructure.
What takes so long to get documents? I would hope most if not all are electronically stored and could be sent to whomever requests them. If I wanted to make trouble I would look at a criminal investigation to see if there is a coverup of wrongdoing.