Council Member Wilson questions DOT on pedestrian-bike separation and BID design involvement
Wilson asks how the final capital design will physically protect pedestrians from the two-way bike lane, per Community Board 5's recommendation. Weidenhoff describes plantings between cycling and pedestrian space, tactile surfaces, tactile domes at crossings, and lowered cycling lanes in some blocks. Wilson follows up on whether the BID is consulted in design; Weidenhoff confirms active collaboration.
I'd also like to echo Councilman Epstein's comments about the collaboration and responsiveness from DOT.
Thank you very much.
I know it's been a lot of back and forth, but appreciate you all being at the table the whole time in really good faith.
I have a couple of questions.
So in their recommendations, Community Board 5 emphasized the importance of permanent separation between pedestrian areas and the proposed two-way bike lane.
Can DOT explain how the final capital design will physically protect pedestrians?
So we're still in design, and we'll be sharing a lot of these details with the public and when we go back to the community board.
But one of the great things about the capital design is we have a lot more tools that we're able to use versus just the paint and gravel.
So there are a few different elements that we're looking at.
One is just actually designing more planting in between the two-way cycling and the pedestrian space so it'll naturally feel separated.
We're also looking at tactile surfaces, so a little bit of a raised
bump, if you will, that will help both kind of visually but also people
with visual impairments to feel the difference between the cycle track and the pedestrian space, as well as the tactile.
domes where we have an indicate a physical crossing.
So those are some of the elements that we're looking to incorporate into the final design so it'll feel more separated.
In some of the blocks, we're actually lowering the cycling lane a little bit lower than the sidewalk grade.
So again, there will be a little bit of a physical distinction kind of clarifying who uses which space.
Is the business improvement district part of the...
Consulted during this design.
If we're talking about plantings, I imagine they're going to be taking care of those.
They're part of that design process.
Absolutely.
We have a big meeting this week to dig into some of those details.
But yes, absolutely.
Our design process is heavily reflective of the reality that our plaza partner,
are responsible for the long-term maintenance and management of the spaces, and we want to make sure we're designing both to a really world-class public standard, but also one that our partners can maintain and sustain.