Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Skillman Ave bike lanes questioned after fire truck incident

From Sunnyside Post:

A new video posted to a local Facebook group shows a firetruck being blocked from traveling down Skillman Avenue–raising questions about public safety following the street’s recent redesign.

The video, just over a minute long and posted to the Woodside Pride group at around 8:45 p.m. yesterday, shows an angled firetruck from the local Engine 325/Ladder 163 firehouse on 51st Street, with lights and horns ablaze, unable to turn onto Skillman Avenue.

Two firefighters are also seen on the street, seemingly trying to direct the truck.

The truck appears to be blocked by at least two cars stationed in a striped buffer zone on Skillman Avenue, part of the Department of Transportation’s reconfiguration of the avenue to make way for protected bike lanes and other safety measures.

The truck eventually reverses a couple of feet back before pulling forward into 51st Street, presumably to make a turn onto 39th Avenue.

The video has already been shared by dozens, with many worried about the prospect of a delayed firetruck.

Several, despite the cars stationed over a new buffer zone, blamed the firetruck’s holdup on the newly implemented protected bike lane design, which included the elimination of a travel lane at the site.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Solution: eliminate the parking spots

JQ LLC said...

Beware the TA proxies on the sunnyside post comments page. They are scapegoating the double parked car. That bike lane is so wide that the truck would have had difficulty turning anyway because the cars are parked in the MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING STREET.

georgetheatheist said...

I drive past that fire station on 51st street 3-4x per week. BEFORE the bike lanes, I was always amazed at that tight squeeze to get the fire truck out - and even back in. 51st street is extremely narrow and on a sloping hill. (Why the station was even located to begin with there is beyond comprehension.)

Anonymous said...

Take a cue from MTA. Require a hearing before any bike lane is built. These lanes are built by bureaucrats for no good reason. Let local folks hash it out.

georgetheatheist said...

Where was the asshole driver with the blinking car lights? Hiding until the "coast was clear"? Anyone get him/her and the plate number on video?

Anonymous said...

It was only a matter of time. I'll wait until more reports come out like this about their bike lanes. The other problem is that some streets that they put the bike lanes on are way too narrow too. It's a real huge mess!

Anonymous said...

They should remove all the damn bike lanes. People barely use them.

Anonymous said...

Why are there vehicles parked in a buffer zone?

Anonymous said...

The left hates cars almost as much as it hates guns. Get rid of all the bike lanes on streets already. This ain't Amsterdam, Europe or wherever the hell this stupid idea came from. It's New York City and bike lanes don't belong here. Neither do "pedestrian plazas."

Anonymous said...

There was a young kid from the DOT at the recent Bayside festival doing surveys. He smirked when I mentioned how so many locals did not like the bike lanes. He was clearly from nowhere near NY. He then probably returned to his six roommates and hipster doughnuts in Brooklyn.

Anonymous said...

"Take a cue from MTA. Require a hearing before any bike lane is built. These lanes are built by bureaucrats for no good reason. Let local folks hash it out."

They did, before the community board, where FDNY showed up and told them it was a bad idea. The board agreed. DeBlasio decided to override the community board and install the bike lane anyway. JVB waffled on the whole thing because his husband was on the TA board. JVB created this mess by siding with with the Trumpian TA vultures who move community to community getting bike lanes installed by holding rallys after cyclists get hit. They are actual vultures that live off road kill.

"The left hates cars almost as much as it hates guns. Get rid of all the bike lanes on streets already. "

No. There is a small but extremely vocal group called Transportation Alternatives who hates cars. Plenty of 'people on the left' own and rely on cars.

"Solution: eliminate the parking spots"
Fuck You. Sit Down.

JQ LLC said...

Fuck Transportation Alternatives.

Anonymous said...

Gas powered vehicles are the bane of Di Stronzo's existence so the obvious solution is to replace fire trucks with fire bikes. Problem solved in the mind of the great mayor.

Anonymous said...

That's right! More Fire Bikes! Good for the environment and people too.

Anonymous said...

Get rid of parking in an area that already doesn't have enough parking, what did they expect? Get rid of a travel lane on a narrow street that's already overcrowded with traffic, what did they expect?

> Require a hearing before any bike lane is built. These lanes are built by bureaucrats for no good reason.

How will that make a difference? Every single community board in Queens voted near-unanimously against bike lanes, and the Mayor overruled them. The Mayor who won't do anything about any other infrastructure issues has made installing these bikelanes his priority.

JQ LLC said...

nah, the next fireman will all be lined up in a row on skateboards carrying a hose.

Paul Steely White is a douche bag of dead dicks and pigeon shit.

Anonymous said...

And now that the head of TA resigned to go head up some priviledged scooter company in NYC, the city will be inundated with these 2 wheel hazards used by priviledged hipsters... You watch. He has connections to do this. You think bikes are bad now, just you wait.

JQ LLC said...

Last anon:

The other day while riding, I got nicked by an impatient hipshit on a scooter whizzing by me. I caught up to the twat got in his face and yelled at his candy ass and he refused to look at me

So this is already going on, in addition to these grown dweebs riding motorized skateboards. And despite their illegality the cops ain't doing a damn thing.