Objective 7.2: Strengthen Neighborhood Identity and Small Business Vitality through Grassroot Placemaking
A community, mobility, and public health- centered approach must drive transportation planning on the peninsula. By exploring neighborhood level policies to reduce entertainment-district related seasonal traffic while generating revenue for transportation and mobility improvements, and combining that with community education, skill sharing, and improved access to bicycles and bicycle safety related infrastructure, these two recommendations serve to improve mobility to, from, and within Coney Island .
7.2 Expand Bicycle Usage through Community Workshops & Access Planning
The Vision
With plans for the seasonal congestion zone to address all top transportation concerns, including traffic, congestion, parking, bus service, and sidewalks, the next biggest desire is a greater bike lane network. At the moment the neighborhood lacks general access to bicycles, with no service from the CitiBike bike-share program and no local bike shops. This recommendation aims to provide residents with bicycles, and educate them on how to ride and work on them. This also offers crucial programming for youth who can find community and purpose through these programs. As demand increases, elected officials and the community can engage with the Department of Transportation in expanding the bike lane network in Coney Island.
Community Concerns Addressed
This recommendation focuses on neighborhood mobility, cyclist safety, bicycle access, and youth programming. The desire is for greater neighborhood mobility, education and programming for youth, new skills acquired by residents, and more residents feeling comfortable using bicycles around the neighborhood. While the survey results did not indicate an overwhelming preference to biking among car users, this would provide a much quicker way around the neighborhood for those who reported that they walk and those who are interested in biking, while also providing new programming and activities for youth.
Source: John Wachunas via Medium
How to Get it Done
There are several organizations who could potentially help bring this vision to life. Bike New York is an organization that does education and programming throughout New York City. They could be contacted about expanding programming to Coney Island, along with Mechanical Gardens Bike Co-Op, a nonprofit bike co-op in Brooklyn.
Resources on how to acquire bikes can be provided at community board meetings, such as the Transportation Alternatives Bike Match program, which helps match bike donors with those seeking a bike. A community-led bicycle donation program could also be set up through the community board.
A space would need to be found in order to establish a regular location as well as dates and times of operation. Potential locations include churches or other community spaces.
Source: Mechanical Gardens Bike Co-Op
Activation
To activate this initiative, Kaiser Park could be used as a location for workshops and potentially new bike paths as part of a park remodel. Bike paths not only create new space to ride in a car-free environment, but also provide a safe environment for those learning to ride a bike.
Other ideas include a mutual aid bike share, since Citi Bike is not in the area, and to organize a bike bus. A bike bus brings the parents and kids together on bicycles in a community effort of biking to school.
Source: Green Agenda