Remarks to North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, 7/8/24
The proposed Bergen-Rockland Active Network (“BRAN”) is a response to the Palisades Shared Use Path Study (“PSUPS”) which seeks to identify an alignment for a recreational bikeway between the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo (“MCM”) and George Washington Bridges (“GWB”).
Five Alignments
Rather than a single alignment, five are considered. Two are new, protected bikeways. Three upgrade “naturally occurring” routes.
Creating a new path requires funding and years of construction to establish a following. Existing routes start with a constituency that grows as it is upgraded.
Another rationale for multiple alignments is to reduce user conflict.
Also, expecting one facility to support all potential users can make it unreasonably expensive and/or result in an unsatisfactory level of service. Not every bike route needs to meet the needs of every cyclist.
Alta Planning + Design
Each of the proposed alignments identifies likely users based on comfort level.
Some expand the categories of users biking the corridor. Others improve the level of service for groups using it now.
Also, each alignment recognizes the need to include rest stops at regular intervals.
#1–PIP (LTS 1-4) takes local roads and 9W from the MMC to Piermont. South of Alpine to the GWB, it would comprise a new separated path along the Palisades Interstate Parkway.
(+) The promise of #1 is that a protected bikeway between Hudson crossings would attract LTS 1 cyclists. Also LTS 4 looking to bike twenty miles w/o stopping.
(-) Time and expense need to construct a new path. The projected disparity of users—racers and Ebikers mixing with families. The PIP’s isolation from population centers with no obvious way to access it mid-stream without a car. The limited esthetic appeal of biking along a highway.
Recommended Upgrades: Parking areas, comfort stations, food vendors. Designate east-west connectors as “bicycle boulevards” to provide local access.
#1-PIP (left). #2-9W (right).
#2–9W (LTS 3-4) mirrors PIP but along the shoulders of Route 9W.
(+) 9W is already the second most heavily biked corridor in the U.S—which by itself validates investment. Mostly adequate shoulders plus food vendors at each terminus.
(-) Long climbs, high speed descents and proximity to car traffic make 9W a challenge for inexperienced cyclists.
Recommended Upgrades: Create bikeable shoulders along 9W between Englewood Cliffs and Tenafly. Stripe bike lanes to the left of right-turning vehicles. Time the traffic signal at the graded NY-NJ crossing (mile 6.5) to facilitate cyclists’ momentum.
Route 9W is the second most heavily biked road in the U.S. yet has no accommodation for cyclists. Google Streetview.
#3–CSX (LTS 1-4) tacks west off the MMC and then south, sharing fifteen miles of the CSX right-of-way to Englewood and local roads through Fort Lee to the GWB.
(+) The CSX ROW bisects densely populated areas, providing residents-without-a-car immediate access. Will induce creation of east-west connectors. Leverages local food vendors and public parks to provide rest stops.
(-) Time and expense to construct. Need to secure the ROW along inactive and active sections from CSX. Potential conflicts among categories of users.
Recommended Upgrades: Build up the ROW with paved and unpaved lanes to separate runners and walkers. Enhance shoulders on adjacent roads to draw off LT 3-4 cyclists. Designate bike boulevards through Fort Lee to the GWB.
#3-CSX in heat map view
#4–CSX w/o ROW (LTS 3-4) parallels the CSX ROW using adjacent roads.
(+) #4 could serve as an bridge while #3-CSX gets built. After #3-CSX is realized, keeping #4 in service would de-conflict classes of users. And if #3-CSX never happens, these regularly biked roads will get an upgraded level of service.
(-) Would only minimally expand the categories of cyclists using it now.
Recommended Upgrades: Widen/extend shoulders along main roads. Designate bike boulevards through Fort Lee to the GWB.
#4-CSX w/o ROW
#5–Off-Road (LTS 2-4) leverages weekend service on the Ossining ferry to include Haverstraw and Nyack Beach State Parks. Then continuing down the Old Erie Trail, Tallman State Park, Lamont Observatory, State Line Lookout and the Henry Hudson Drive.
(+) Comfort stations already exist in the State Parks and along the Henry Hudson Drive. The utilized portion of 9W has good shoulders. Dirt trails, low-use, shady roads and historic views of the Hudson comprise the elements of a world-class cycling facility.
Recommended Upgrades: Make weekend service on the Ossining-Haverstraw ferry permanent.
#5-Off-Road
Neile Weissman heads up Complete George, a bike advocacy whose campaigns include getting an AASHTO compliant bikeway across the George Washington Bridge; the Grayways proposal to designate 500 miles of recreational bike routes connecting NYC parks; and passing Stop as Yield legislation which allows cyclists to treat stop lights as stop signs, and stop signs as yields.
Neile is also Public Relations Director for the New York Cycle Club, for whom he has organized over a thousand rides and has been instrumental in negotiating group access on Metro North, LIRR and NJ Transit.
Complete George 