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The dangers of riding Central Park’s transverse roads
Transportation advocates say that the transverse roads in Central Park are proving far too dangerous for cyclists and changes must be made.
NEW YORK - Transportation safety advocates say that the four transverse roads that cut across Central Park have been too dangerous for too long for cyclists.
Transportation Alternatives, a group that supports placing less emphasis on motor vehicles, says that many cyclists take the transverse roads because they are simply the most direct crosstown route. But some riders are beginning to avoid them in the aftermath of recent cyclist deaths like Daniel Cammerman, who was struck and killed by a school bus on the 96th Street transverse, becoming New York City’s 29th killed cyclist of 2019.
“Pedestrians and cyclists as vulnerable road users are pushed to the margins of the streets often in the best case and in this case have no safe space whatsoever,” said Marco Conner of Transportation Alternatives.
The Department of Transportation told FOX 5 NY that they have received suggestions for protected bike lanes, and that they “look forward to working with Community Board 7 and others to review priority areas for potential upgrades.”
According to CB7’s Mark Diller, one tricky sticking point is making roads built in the 1800s for horse-drawn carriages work for the needs of modern transit.
“The transverse roads themselves were never built for or with an eye toward bicycles or really even, really pedestrians,” Diller said. “So we need to brainstorm to have all the best possible ideas and all the right experts in the room.”