From NYC.Streetsblog.org
By Blake Walker
Every year since I’ve been old enough to pedal a bicycle on the streets of New York, a sort of amnesia falls upon me as the heat of the summer sun rises, and I set off on my Cannondale to catch the waves at Coney Island. And every year, the reality of the Ocean Parkway bike path begins with a faint remembrance and slowly builds, eternal traffic light by eternal traffic light, to the wallop of a baseball bat, and I tell myself, “Never again.”
The money my family saves by not having a car we spend on travel, so I’ve had the opportunity to ride bicycles in a number of cities in Europe. Berlin, Stockholm, and Amsterdam are all very different but equally rewarding cities to explore on two wheels. It is the cycling infrastructure in Copenhagen, however, that sets it apart. Traffic lights are timed so that cyclists riding at a steady speed catch a “green wave” and ride continuously without stopping. The Cykelslangen — the Bicycle Snake — is a dedicated cycling bridge across the harbor that 17,500 people ride daily. Having experienced Copenhagen, it is impossible for me not to wonder what it would take to give Ocean Parkway the same treatment, and what Brooklyn might look like if someone did.