Irony: City asks State for money for pedestrians and cyclists! To protect them from all the HUGE buses?

Irony abounds, as do HUGE buses, many on regional routes that now slash through downtown White Plains for no apparent reason. But wait. White Plains decision makers want to protect its most vulnerable residents.

Email message received:

from:		WP Transit District <transitdistrict@whiteplainsny.gov>via mail148.suw12.mcsv.net
reply-to:		WP Transit District
to:		ken
date:		Tue, Oct 11, 2016 at 10:54 AM
subject:		Support Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvements in the White Plains Transit District

Pledge your support for proposed bicyclist and pedestrian improvements in the White Plains Transit District by clicking here.

The City of White Plains is applying for a New York State Transportation Alternatives Program Grant that proposes to fund:

• Sidewalk Improvements
• Crosswalk Improvements
• A protected bike lane on Martine Avenue
• Cycle tracks on Hamilton Avenue and Main Street
• Expanded & secure bike parking in the Transit District

Your support will strengthen the City's application and further the goals of a vibrant and welcoming Transit District. You can pledge your support below. 

For more information about the City's grant application click here.
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You can't make up stuff like this. The current bike lanes are a joke. I've challenged the task force and Common Council to have group bike rides on the bike lanes, especially through the train station area ... without police escort. That has not occurred.

In addition to the many decades of high speed traffic on the dozen or so roads of at least four lanes that slash through downtown White Plains, there are now buses that park where bike lanes would be and drive, especially during evening rush hour, when, apparently, no Common Council member would dare to observe.

But, the current initiative can't hurt. At least it's lip service in the right direction, maybe intended to attract those thousands of millennials upon whom the City is counting to fill its coffers for decades to come but not proportionately burden its school system with, you know, children. Many of the new apartments to be built are too small for families and some are mere crash pads for transients.

Transit District scenarios A, B, C. Two demolish parking garage! Yippie!

Transmania unchained!

An interpretation of public presentation by White Plains planning commissioner Chris Gomez Sept. 28, 2016. Derived from video at transitdistrict.com

There is also PowerPoint stuff: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByAWC5bf9-kYRVNoWXNWN056QzA/view

Four WP city owned parcels east of train station:
- firehouse
- parking garage
- station lot (drop off/pick up)
- Bronx Street lot

Long Term Scenarios:
A:
- firehouse: no change
- parking garage: no change
- station lot (drop off/pick up): buildings
- Bronx Street lot: park

B:
- firehouse: building on south edge?
- parking garage: demolish garage; buildings
- station lot (drop off/pick up): park
- Bronx Street lot: buildings

Babbling about new "bus rapid transit" something. Argh.

C:
- firehouse: building on south edge?
- parking garage: demolish garage; buildings
- station lot (drop off/pick up): park and building
- Bronx Street lot: buildings
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Add parking on firehouse lot in B and C?

There are two private things immediately east, which were not mentioned:
- parking garage with the infamous county Bee-Line bus terminal on street level
- surface level parking lot north of Hamilton Avenue.

East of the private surface parking is church property that could be developed.

Demolition of the train station parking garage has been recommended here previously, so it's encouraging that demolition is being considered.

Also welcome was there was no mention of a new train station building. Wasting valuable space on such a relic would be foolish.

Pedestrian zone, like Paris along the Seine River.

Range Is All the Rage in Paris, as Electric Cars Steal the Show

By JERRY GARRETT OCT. 6, 2016 nytimes.com

Diesel’s inherently dirtier emissions are not welcome in Paris these days. To address the city’s notoriously bad air quality, the municipal government has since July 1 prohibited cars that were registered before 1997 from operating on the streets on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. By 2020, environmental activists predict, all diesels might be banned in Paris.

And the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has proposed expanding car-free areas. One just approved will transform a major thoroughfare along the Seine into a pedestrian zone.
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