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'Polite' Cyclists Push For Shared Paths in Central Park

Cycling advocates carry signs reading
Cycling advocates carry signs reading "I bike Polite" as part of a new campaign to push for shared bike paths.
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Flickr/juleskills

UPPER WEST SIDE — Cyclists out to prove they can play nice with pedestrians spoke up in favor of opening Central Park's walking paths to bikers.

Wearing signs that declared "I Bike Polite" and "I Yield to Pedestrians," they told Community Board 7 members Tuesday that allowing bikes to share crosstown paths with pedestrians would save lives and shrink commute times.

The Central Park Conservancy wants to open two crosstown paths in the northern part of the park to bike traffic for a trial period. It's currently illegal for bikers to ride on pedestrian paths.

Community Board 7 hasn't taken an official position on the path-sharing plan, but the transportation and parks committees hosted a discussion on the proposal Tuesday, which the Upper East Side's Community Board 8 recently voted against.

Cyclists want some pedestrian paths in Central Park opened to bike traffic.
Cyclists want some pedestrian paths in Central Park opened to bike traffic.
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Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The cyclists' goodwill campaign faces an uphill ride with some Upper West Siders as well. Many have been rankled by new bike lanes on Columbus Avenue and conflicts between dogwalkers and cyclists in Riverside Park.

Some at Tuesday's meeting charged that cyclists are wanna-be Lance Armstrongs who flip off pedestrians that get in their way.

"Right now there's chaos," said resident Alex Medwedew. "Cyclists don't stop at lights...you have people with children, dogs walking these pathways. The bikes should stay off."

Community Relations Manager Caroline Greenleaf said the Central Park Conservancy was aware of such concerns, and plans to tread carefully into the path-sharing pilot program.

The Conservancy has selected two paths, one at 102nd Street and the other just south of 96th Street, for the four-month trial, Greenleaf said. The 102nd Street path is a wide road, and the 96th Street path is a "bucolic," little-used path, Greenleaf said.

"We consider these utilitarian paths that people use to get from point A to point B," Greenleaf said. "We're not anticipating that they'll be used by recreational cyclists."

Even so, Greenleaf said safety was a top concern because dog walkers and parents with strollers use the paths too. The Conservancy will install signs and paint symbols on the pavement to show bikers how to share the path, Greenleaf said.

The Conservancy is also asking cyclists to ride "at walking speed" on the paths.

Upper West Sider David Zelman questioned that idea, because the paths are meant to make commuting across town easier. With "people in a rush to get from one point to another," it doesn't make sense to ask them to ride so slowly, Zelman said.

If the pilot program is successful, pedestrian paths will be opened to cyclists elsewhere in Central Park, Greenleaf said. The Conservancy's goal is to create a network of shared paths throughout the greenspace, she said.

Some members of Community Board 7, which recently backed a bid to ban car traffic in Central Park, said they favored the shared-path plan, but others disagreed.

"Anywhere there's been mixed modes of transport sharing space, it's been a disaster," said Community Board 7 member Dan Zweig. "I don't see the need for a commuting group to be taking away a recreational use from the park."