“A great bike network is made up of great bike routes.” — League of American Bicyclists
Summary
Grayways is a proposal calling on the NYC Departments of Transportation and Parks & Recreation to designate 500 miles of bike routes connecting city parks.
Immediate beneficiaries include NYC’s 800,000 adult cyclists who have few recreational facilities not crowded with runners and walkers, and neighborhood food shops who’d see a surge in customers.
Route Characteristics
The eighteen (18) proposed routes:
- Range from 20-45 miles in length.
- Span the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Many begin-and-end in Manhattan.
- Aggregate separated paths, on-road bike lanes, quiet residential streets, and commercial areas that are empty on weekends (“industrial parks”).
- Avoid already overcrowded facilities like Central/Prospect Park Drives, Coney Island/FDR Boardwalks and Hudson Greenway.
- Feature neighborhood food stops and points of interest.
- Incorporate city playgrounds to provide rest stops at regular intervals.
- Do not close streets, take parking spots nor involve the NYPD.
First Iteration
First iteration of the network can be implemented quickly and cheaply by hosting GPS data on city websites. This will immediately benefit the 800,000 NYC cyclists already comfortable riding in city traffic (using Queens Boulevard bikeway as a threshold). As routes gain acceptance they should be upgraded with safety improvements to induce further demand.
Upgrades
Because low stress roads are inherently easier to mitigate, routes that feature them will result in more-miles-acceptable-to-more-users for a given level of funding than schemes to upgrade high stress (“arterial”) roads.
Alta Planning + Design.
Supporters
Bicycle Touring Club of North Jersey, Black Girls Do Bike NYC, Ciclistas Latinoamericanos de New York, Empire Tri Club, Five Boro Bike Club, Huntington Bicycle Club, I Challenge Myself, InTandem Bike, Kids Ride Club, Long Island Randonneurs, Morris Area Freewheelers, New York Cycle Club, NYC Velo, OutCycling, QNS Social Ride, Staten Island Bicycling Association, Team Red White & Blue
Portland Board of Transportation
Resources and Precedents
Urban – Transport for London Strategic Cycling Analysis, Regional Plan Association Jamaica Bay Greenway, 1997 NYC Bicycle Master Plan
Suburban – Somerset (NJ) Walk-Bike-Hike, Bergen (NJ) Parks Master Plan, Suffolk County Hike And Bike Master Plan, Bike Hunterdon
Scenic Roads – CT Scenic Roads, NY Scenic Byways
Extended Routes – U.S. Bicycle Route System, NY Bicycle Route System, NY BR Viewer, Old Croton Aqueduct State Park, Empire State Trail, High Point (NJ) to Cape May Bike Route, East Coast Greenway, RPA Tri-State Trail Network, LAB Benchmarking Bike Networks
Benefits
Extend Access to Green Space
- Grayways furthers the objective of DOPR’s Walk to a Park by making all parks available to all residents, even those typically accessed by car—Shirley Chisholm, Orchard Beach.
- By regarding the act of travel as a recreational activity, the network would blur the boundaries between parks and their environs—the objective of Parks Without Borders.
Hamilton Beach
- It would showcase the $130 million invested in the Community Parks Initiative and broaden the constituency for further improvements.
- Adding recreational capacity outside Central/Prospect Park drives, Coney Island/FDR boardwalks and Hudson Greenway will reduce overcrowding during periods of peak use.
NY Times
Twice as many people bike for recreation as transportation. This infers that projects with a recreational component will draw twice the use as infrastructure intended solely for commuting.
“U.S. Bicycling Participation Benchmarking Study, 2015,” People for Bikes (p.22)
Benefit Underserved Constituencies
- Extend opportunities for exercise and recreation to residents across NYC, particularly to communities with limited access to green space.
- Bridge transportation deserts. Reduce household spending on travel.
- Enhance the health benefits of existing bikeways by extending trip distances, increasing use and enhancing the safety of numbers.
- Create a rationale for bike share providers to extend service to outer boroughs—and a literal road map for where to site dock stations.
- Create the impetus for bridge operators to expand bike capacity.
MTA’s seven toll bridges—none of which support bike access. Bike map NYCDOT.
Create Jobs, Develop Local Economies
Cycle tourism added $97 billion to the U.S. economy in 2017. Per capita, that’s $248 million per year in NYC—but that doesn’t factor the City’s 1300 mile bike grid, 20 million bike share trips and that 10% of adult residents ride regularly.
- Leverage the billions of dollars invested in bike paths and city parks as a vehicle to drive tourism and support the trend toward staycations.
- The NYSERDA-Urban Cycling Solutions NY Cycling Census, found that “a third of respondents currently use their bikes for tourism purposes and that most are very likely to.”
- Support Business Improvement Districts’ promotion of local business and special events—Bronx Night Market.
- Enhance home values. Smart growth studies by National Association of Realtors correlate a 5-10% increase to a homes’ proximity to bikeways.
- Bike shops rely on recreational cycling to generate the bulk of their profits.
- A network of attractive routes (w/rest stops) and destinations will draw cyclists from Long Island, Westchester, Connecticut and New Jersey (see “Supporters”).
Have a Positive Effect on Climate Change
- Promote cycling as a preferred mode of recreational travel, thereby reducing vehicle miles traveled.
- Grow multi-modal trips by increasing catchment and capacity of neighborhood transit hubs. Create the safe connectors for bike share providers to site facilities.
Image Warren J. Wells
Invest in Resilient Infrastructure
- Supplement mass transit during periods of peak use—particularly with the advent of E-Bikes which can cut travel times in half.
- Enhance resilience to widespread transport outage resulting from extreme weather events, structural failure, global pandemic or armed conflict.
- Spur bridge operators to enhance bike access across the City’s arterial crossings—Henry Hudson, Cross Bay, Marine Parkway, Tri-Boro, George Washington and Outerbridge.
Marine Parkway Bridge. Image John T. Chiarella
Routes
“There may be nothing more frustrating for a cyclist or advocate than a bike lane to nowhere—one that ends in a dangerous roadway, or at an intimidating intersection, or only exists for a block or two.” — League of American Bicyclists
Each of the 18 routes below comprise a map (red is outbound), GPS instructions, turn-by-turn directions (“cue sheet”) and a featured food stop. Total mileage of all routes is 588.7 miles. Their average length is 32.7 miles.
Bronx #1 – Pelham Bay, 28.1 miles – GPS, cue sheet, food stops – Barino’s Market, Bronx Brewery
Bronx #2 – Van Cortlandt, 23.7 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Kingsbridge Social Club
Bronx #3 – City Island, 25.0 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Johnny’s Reef, Gun Hill Brewery
Brooklyn #1 – Marine Park, 35.4 – GPS, cue sheet, FalafaLafa
Brooklyn #2 – Shirley Chisholm, 34.8 miles – GPS, cue sheet
Brooklyn #3 – Manhattan Beach, 19.5 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Brighton Beach
Brooklyn #4 – Canarsie Pier, 38.7 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Spumoni Gardens
Queens #1 – Rockaway Beach, 28.5 miles– GPS, cue sheet, Uma’s
Queens #2 – Idlewild, 40.1 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Jamaica Breeze
Queens #3 – Francis Lewis, 34.3 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Tony’s Beechhurst Deli
Queens #4 – Hamilton Beach, 36.3 miles – GPS, cue sheet, New Park Pizza
Queens #5 – Richmond Hill, 34.0 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Singh’s Roti
Queens #6 – Floral Park, 37.6 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Buttercooky Bakery
Staten Island #1 – Conference House, 41.7 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Towne Deli
Staten Island #2 – Clay Pit (Dirt) 45.1 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Reggiano’s Pizza
Staten Island #3 – Bloomingdale, 35.5 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Pio’s Bagels
Staten Island #4 – Latourette, 38.3 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Artisan Bakers
Strategies to Reduce Stress and Enhance Connectivity
- Designate sequences low-S/T streets as bike boulevards.
- Employ cut-throughs to connect boulevards into corridors.
From Staten Island #4 – Latourette, mile 5.7—cut-through from Douglas to Milden
- Create byways to eliminate high-S/T sections.
From Queens #5 – Richmond Hill, mile 19.1-22.5—Rockaway Boulevard Bypass.
- Reorient traffic control devices along corridors to minimize cyclist stopping.
- In cases where full-time designation of roads as bike boulevards isn’t feasible, implement it on weekends.
Car-Free Sundays to lower dependence on imported oil. International Energy Agency.
- Have Parks & Recreation designate playgrounds as part of the network and commit to keeping their restrooms open.
- Organize residents in outlying neighborhoods to bike-pool to work.
Civic Bike Commuting Research Project (CiBiC) via Bloomberg.
Press
• Inflation taking bite out of infrastructure projects, Spectrum News 1, 6/22
• London Mayor to expand ultra-low emission zone, Financial Times, 3/22
• 39 NYS legislators call for $200 million for NYC bikeways, 2/22
• London prepares for 10-fold increase in cycling-walking, Smart Cities, 5/20
• How Paris’ cycling success built a roadmap for others, Curbed, 1/20
• Deaths Expose Chaos of Central Park Loop, NY Times, 9/28/14
• A6235B/S04943B calls on MTA to expand bike access across its bridges, 6/21
• Grayways—New Jersey> Staten Island
Elizabeth to Whitehall, 11.1 miles – 1 hour, 17 minutes cycling vs. 1 hour, 3 minutes for NJ Transit and MTA subway
Bio
Neile Weissman has organized a thousand rides for New York Cycle Club and is its current Public Relations Director. He also heads Complete George—two hundred organizations and communities calling for expanded bike capacity across the George Washington Bridge.
North-South County Trailway (Bronx-Westchester-Putnam). Image Alex Lektchinov.
Over time, routes should be upgraded with safety improvements to induce further demand.
Portland Board of Transportation
Upgrades
Because low stress roads are inherently easier to mitigate, routes that feature them will result in more-miles-acceptable-to-more-users for a given level of funding than schemes to upgrade high stress (“arterial”) roads.
Alta Planning + Design.
Supporters
Bicycle Touring Club of North Jersey, Black Girls Do Bike NYC, Ciclistas Latinoamericanos de New York, Empire Tri Club, Five Boro Bike Club, Huntington Bicycle Club, I Challenge Myself, InTandem Bike, Kids Ride Club, Long Island Randonneurs, Morris Area Freewheelers, New York Cycle Club, NYC Velo, OutCycling, QNS Social Ride, Staten Island Bicycling Organization, Team Red White & Blue
Resources and Precedents
Urban – Transport for London Strategic Cycling Analysis, Regional Plan Association Jamaica Bay Greenway, 1997 NYC Bicycle Master Plan
Suburban – Somerset (NJ) Walk-Bike-Hike, Bergen (NJ) Parks Master Plan, Suffolk County Hike And Bike Master Plan, Bike Hunterdon
Scenic Roads – CT Scenic Roads, NY Scenic Byways
Extended Routes – U.S. Bicycle Route System, NY Bicycle Route System, NY BR Viewer, Old Croton Aqueduct State Park, Empire State Trail, High Point (NJ) to Cape May Bike Route, East Coast Greenway, RPA Tri-State Trail Network, LAB Benchmarking Bike Networks
Benefits
Extend Access to Green Space
- Grayways furthers the objective of DOPR’s Walk to a Park by making all parks available to all residents, even those typically accessed by car—Shirley Chisholm, Orchard Beach.
- By regarding the act of travel as a recreational activity, the network would blur the boundaries between parks and their environs—the objective of Parks Without Borders.
Hamilton Beach
- It would showcase the $130 million invested in the Community Parks Initiative and broaden the constituency for further improvements.
- Adding recreational capacity outside Central/Prospect Park drives, Coney Island/FDR boardwalks and Hudson Greenway will reduce overcrowding during periods of peak use.
NY Times
Twice as many people bike for recreation as transportation. This infers that projects with a recreational component will draw twice the use as infrastructure intended solely for commuting.
“U.S. Bicycling Participation Benchmarking Study, 2015,” People for Bikes (p.22)
Benefit Underserved Constituencies
- Extend opportunities for exercise and recreation to residents across NYC, particularly to communities with limited access to green space.
- Bridge transportation deserts. Reduce household spending on travel.
- Enhance the health benefits of existing bikeways by extending trip distances, increasing use and enhancing the safety of numbers.
- Create a rationale for bike share providers to extend service to outer boroughs—and a literal road map for where to site dock stations.
- Create the impetus for bridge operators to expand bike capacity.
MTA’s seven toll bridges—none of which support bike access. Bike map NYCDOT.
Create Jobs, Develop Local Economies
Cycle tourism added $97 billion to the U.S. economy in 2017. Per capita, that’s $248 million per year in NYC—but that doesn’t factor the City’s 1300 mile bike grid, 20 million bike share trips and that 10% of adult residents ride regularly.
- Leverage the billions of dollars invested in bike paths and city parks as a vehicle to drive tourism and support the trend toward staycations.
- The NYSERDA-Urban Cycling Solutions NY Cycling Census, found that “a third of respondents currently use their bikes for tourism purposes and that most are very likely to.”
- Support Business Improvement Districts’ promotion of local business and special events—Bronx Night Market.
- Enhance home values. Smart growth studies by National Association of Realtors correlate a 5-10% increase to a homes’ proximity to bikeways.
- Bike shops rely on recreational cycling to generate the bulk of their profits.
- A network of attractive routes (w/rest stops) and destinations will draw cyclists from Long Island, Westchester, Connecticut and New Jersey (see “Supporters”).
Have a Positive Effect on Climate Change
- Promote cycling as a preferred mode of recreational travel, thereby reducing vehicle miles traveled.
- Grow multi-modal trips by increasing catchment and capacity of neighborhood transit hubs. Create the safe connectors for bike share providers to site facilities.
Image Warren J. Wells
Invest in Resilient Infrastructure
- Supplement mass transit during periods of peak use—particularly with the advent of E-Bikes which can cut travel times in half.
- Enhance resilience to widespread transport outage resulting from extreme weather events, structural failure, global pandemic or armed conflict.
- Spur bridge operators to enhance bike access across the City’s arterial crossings—Henry Hudson, Cross Bay, Marine Parkway, Tri-Boro, George Washington and Outerbridge.
Marine Parkway Bridge. Image John T. Chiarella
Routes
“There may be nothing more frustrating for a cyclist or advocate than a bike lane to nowhere—one that ends in a dangerous roadway, or at an intimidating intersection, or only exists for a block or two.” — League of American Bicyclists
Each of the 18 routes below comprise a map (red is outbound), GPS instructions, turn-by-turn directions (“cue sheet”) and a featured food stop. Total mileage of all routes is 588.7 miles. Their average length is 32.7 miles.
Bronx #1 – Pelham Bay, 28.1 miles – GPS, cue sheet, food stops – Barino’s Market, Bronx Brewery
Bronx #2 – Van Cortlandt, 23.7 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Kingsbridge Social Club
Bronx #3 – City Island, 25.0 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Johnny’s Reef, Gun Hill Brewery
Brooklyn #1 – Marine Park, 35.4 – GPS, cue sheet, FalafaLafa
Brooklyn #2 – Shirley Chisholm, 34.8 miles – GPS, cue sheet
Brooklyn #3 – Manhattan Beach, 19.5 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Brighton Beach
Brooklyn #4 – Canarsie Pier, 38.7 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Spumoni Gardens
Queens #1 – Rockaway Beach, 28.5 miles– GPS, cue sheet, Uma’s
Queens #2 – Idlewild, 40.1 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Jamaica Breeze
Queens #3 – Francis Lewis, 34.3 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Tony’s Beechhurst Deli
Queens #4 – Hamilton Beach, 36.3 miles – GPS, cue sheet, New Park Pizza
Queens #5 – Richmond Hill, 34.0 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Singh’s Roti
Queens #6 – Floral Park, 37.6 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Buttercooky Bakery
Staten Island #1 – Conference House, 41.7 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Towne Deli
Staten Island #2 – Clay Pit (Dirt) 45.1 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Reggiano’s Pizza
Staten Island #3 – Bloomingdale, 35.5 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Pio’s Bagels
Staten Island #4 – Latourette, 38.3 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Artisan Bakers
Strategies to Reduce Stress and Enhance Connectivity
- Designate sequences low-S/T streets as bike boulevards.
- Employ cut-throughs to connect boulevards into corridors.
From Staten Island #4 – Latourette, mile 5.7—cut-through from Douglas to Milden
- Create byways to eliminate high-S/T sections.
From Queens #5 – Richmond Hill, mile 19.1-22.5—Rockaway Boulevard Bypass.
- Reorient traffic control devices along corridors to minimize cyclist stopping.
- In cases where full-time designation of roads as bike boulevards isn’t feasible, implement it on weekends.
Car-Free Sundays to lower dependence on imported oil. International Energy Agency.
- Have Parks & Recreation designate playgrounds as part of the network and commit to keeping their restrooms open.
- Organize residents in outlying neighborhoods to bike-pool to work.
Civic Bike Commuting Research Project (CiBiC) via Bloomberg.
Press
• Inflation taking bite out of infrastructure projects, Spectrum News 1, 6/22
• London Mayor to expand ultra-low emission zone, Financial Times, 3/22
• 39 NYS legislators call for $200 million for NYC bikeways, 2/22
• London prepares for 10-fold increase in cycling-walking, Smart Cities, 5/20
• How Paris’ cycling success built a roadmap for others, Curbed, 1/20
• Deaths Expose Chaos of Central Park Loop, NY Times, 9/28/14
• A6235B/S04943B calls on MTA to expand bike access across its bridges, 6/21
• Grayways—New Jersey> Staten Island
Elizabeth to Whitehall, 11.1 miles – 1 hour, 17 minutes cycling vs. 1 hour, 3 minutes for NJ Transit and MTA subway
Bio
Neile Weissman has organized a thousand rides for New York Cycle Club and is its current Public Relations Director. He also heads Complete George—two hundred organizations and communities calling for expanded bike capacity across the George Washington Bridge.
North-South County Trailway (Bronx-Westchester-Putnam). Image Alex Lektchinov.
Complete George 