4 ms·

An avenue is not a stroad; while it can have multiple lanes and less of an expectation of mixed use of the asphalt than a residential street, it's not designed

An avenue is not a stroad; while it can have multiple lanes and less of an expectation of mixed use of the asphalt than a residential street, it's not designed for high speeds, and will often contain many speed-inhibition mechanisms (crossroads, traffic lights, curves, etc). A good approach is to split the lanes - instead of 3+3 as in a high-speed road, they have 2+2 in the middle for thru-traffic, sandwiched by strip of sidewalk, plus another lane on each side for local traffic, and finally another sidewalk next to the buildings.

del82 8y ago
Queens Boulevard[0] is like that, with through-traffic lanes and local lanes divided by a barrier, and it's very much not a pleasant experience to walk or bike near it. It's just so wide, loud, and dangerous[1], though there have been some recent fixes to improve safety. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queens_Boulevard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queens_Boulevard [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queens_Boulevard#Safety_issues_and_improvements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queens_Boulevard#Safety_issues...
- icebraining 8y ago
  "Along much of its length (...), the road includes six express lanes (three in each direction) and a three-lane-wide service road on each side." Sheesh, no wonder it's unpleasant. I'm talking about four express lanes, and a single narrow (just over 8ft, not 11!) service lane on each side.
- freditup 8y ago
  A large stretch of Queens Boulevard has a bike lane alongside of its local lanes now. I just biked the length of it the other day, it's actually quite a pleasant urban biking experience in terms of safety (though not in terms of scenery). The lane is wide, separated from traffic, and the intersections with cars are sensibly designed[0]. (In the map view below, the bike lane is the green lane, where the tan painted area is designated for pedestrians. But almost no pedestrians are going to be walking parallel with the road between the local and through lanes. And if they are, they're likely going to be on the actual median instead of in the painted area. So it's safe to bike in the tan paint, and leave the entire green bike lane as a buffer area. This may sound disrespectful to pedestrians, but when I biked the entire length of the bike lane the other day, I didn't see a single pedestrian walking in this area or even on the median.) [0]: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7389203,-73.8891268,64m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7389203,-73.8891268,64m/data...

del82 8y ago

Queens Boulevard[0] is like that, with through-traffic lanes and local lanes divided by a barrier, and it's very much not a pleasant experience to walk or bike near it. It's just so wide, loud, and dangerous[1], though there have been some recent fixes to improve safety. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queens_Boulevard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queens_Boulevard [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queens_Boulevard#Safety_issues_and_improvements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queens_Boulevard#Safety_issues...

icebraining 8y ago
"Along much of its length (...), the road includes six express lanes (three in each direction) and a three-lane-wide service road on each side." Sheesh, no wonder it's unpleasant. I'm talking about four express lanes, and a single narrow (just over 8ft, not 11!) service lane on each side.
freditup 8y ago
A large stretch of Queens Boulevard has a bike lane alongside of its local lanes now. I just biked the length of it the other day, it's actually quite a pleasant urban biking experience in terms of safety (though not in terms of scenery). The lane is wide, separated from traffic, and the intersections with cars are sensibly designed[0]. (In the map view below, the bike lane is the green lane, where the tan painted area is designated for pedestrians. But almost no pedestrians are going to be walking parallel with the road between the local and through lanes. And if they are, they're likely going to be on the actual median instead of in the painted area. So it's safe to bike in the tan paint, and leave the entire green bike lane as a buffer area. This may sound disrespectful to pedestrians, but when I biked the entire length of the bike lane the other day, I didn't see a single pedestrian walking in this area or even on the median.) [0]: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7389203,-73.8891268,64m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7389203,-73.8891268,64m/data...