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granitellama t1_jee2xt3 wrote

When I moved to Newark I planned on riding my bike to work. However with the lack of infrastructure I was almost hit at least once a week. I take a scooter now because I can ride it on the sidewalk

15

zovig t1_jees1r2 wrote

When I lived in Philly, I biked everywhere. In Newark, biking means putting your life in some crazy driver's hands and trying to ride over un-maintained streets. Seriously, I blew out like 3 tires in the first few months living here when I had never had to replace a tire anywhere else I lived. It's a shame.

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sutisuc t1_jefq3e6 wrote

Damn sorry to hear you used to live in Philly. That place is worlds better then Newark

3

NewNewark OP t1_jefay0x wrote

I like to bike for fun and the only time I was comfortable doing it was April 2020

3

Jimmy_kong253 t1_jec561i wrote

This is every city how they are allowed to shutdown a sidewalk and get away with telling people to Cross the street is beyond me. The Shaq tower was the worst offender I seen the elderly and people having to run across the busy intersection because they didn't know the sidewalk was shutdown

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RKO36 t1_jec77ak wrote

This isn't how you shut down a sidewalk. You're supposed to have signage at the nearest crosswalk alerting people that it's closed ahead so they can cross appropriately or provide safe, protected passage in the street.

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Mysticpoisen t1_jecymu0 wrote

Or if it's a dense city with a lot of pedestrian traffic, use raised scaffolding when nothing is going on at ground level to let pedestrians pass underneath.

It's more expensive, and introduces liability, so nobody does it in cities where it isn't enforced.

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Agile-Win-6615 t1_jees7pn wrote

They need to open the sidewalks around shaq tower soon, its been 2 years of absolute mayhem crossing 21 especially with the Gateway Center pedestrian tunnel closed. Its so unsafe in that intersection!!

5

GhostOfRobertTreat t1_jebsub3 wrote

There are certainly things to point to that the city can do better but this is just a temporary condition for construction. I wouldn’t count this along with the lack of bike lanes, bump outs, etc. when done, the pedestrian access will be restored. It’s not a permanent issue.

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Ironboundian t1_jebuiwn wrote

Temporary? Will probably be like that for a year.

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GhostOfRobertTreat t1_jebvrek wrote

That’s how long construction takes!

3

Ironboundian t1_jebywjt wrote

The OP’s point (or maybe mine is) is that any other major city there would be protective scaffolding with lighting allowing the sidewalk to continue during construction. Rather than a big FU to pedestrians for the next 12-18 months at a sidewalk in the heart of the downtown.

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marceljj t1_jec6a87 wrote

still, pedestrians should be accounted for, especially in downtown

plenty of cities (especially NYC) do construction year round without fully blocking access to sidewalks

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NewNewark OP t1_jebvcta wrote

Not providing a safe walkway can lead to someone getting killed. The area has heavy pedestrian traffic and "temporary" can mean anything from 1 week to 5 years in this city. And it shouldnt be allowed for more than a few hours for a true emergency repair.

Go spend an hour in NYC and youll find every single construction site has a pedestrian walkway.

Example:
https://goo.gl/maps/9CQxh7ib5tFRyvUT7
https://goo.gl/maps/BxDe6TkonMb9PacP6

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GhostOfRobertTreat t1_jebw0pm wrote

If someone turns the corner on Halsey and doesn’t this ahead and cross to the north side of Raymond in order to get to Broad, then they’re an idiot. It’s not the block is impassable. Just cross the street at the corner.

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NewNewark OP t1_jebwnio wrote

You're a piece of shit if you think blind people are idiots. Fuck off.

7

GhostOfRobertTreat t1_jebx4mz wrote

So that is a good point that I hadn’t considered. Apologies. Obviously I did not mean that blind people are idiots.

What is the general practice in that case for when it’s not considered a good idea to remove a lane of traffic to accommodate? In some places you narrow a lane but this would be taking a two lane thoroughfare down to one and probably cause other issues.

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NewNewark OP t1_jebz05w wrote

So you acknowledge that the choice was made between maintaining a car lane or providing a safe and accessible path for pedestrians. In other words, the title of this thread.

A travel lane, by the way, that is almost always filled with parked cars with their hazards on, making it not much of a lane at all.

If extremely crowded Manhattan can find the space to always provide a walkway, than so can Newark.

Regardless, the burden of how the accommodation is provided should fall on the construction people.

Heres another example in NYC with two simultaneous projects

One side of the street they build an in-road walkway
https://goo.gl/maps/iqJRCwpifbBUwLFY9

So presumably the folks across the street who started their construction later had to create a pedestrian tunnel since they couldnt use another lane

https://goo.gl/maps/EzHQQ62uBuD8obB76
https://goo.gl/maps/EAA5Pzp6g2NbRaAx5

5

infomanus t1_jecfnru wrote

Please the city bike lanes and bus lanes are filed with Amazon trucks offloading and sorting.

Designated lanes mean squat

3

OGWarlock t1_jecerwf wrote

The issue is there's no safe walking path for peds, they have to go back to the light and cross or walk in the street. A lot harder and more dangerous for people with strollers, seniors, etc.

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dengeist t1_jeebwtg wrote

The sidewalk across the street looks perfectly walkable.

1

RocketButters t1_jeeqifl wrote

Wait till you get a car and see the potholes everywhere

1

7ranklin35C070 t1_jecg2aa wrote

Lets not fix our community because walking 20’ to use the sidewalk across is insane

−2

zovig t1_jees7el wrote

What about people with disabilities? Elderly folks? Twenty feet is no laughing matter to a lot of people who live here and deserve to be able to get around.

4

Motor-Clock4341 t1_jec4em8 wrote

God forbid you have to open your eyes while walking down the sidewalk

−7