EIRs for Bike Lanes = Waste of Time and Money

Two Staten Island Republicans want to throw a wrench in the city's bike lane boom by requiring environmental review for all new lanes. Experts explain why that's a bad idea.

1 minute read

January 27, 2011, 12:00 PM PST

By Tim Halbur


Streetsblog's Noah Kazis decided to give the Staten Island Council members the benefit of the doubt, and brought the idea to legal and planning experts. Here's what he found:

"'No bike lane would fail an environmental review,' said Michael King, a principal at the transportation planning firm Nelson\Nygaard.

There will always be a positive environmental impact, he explained, something that the city often has to demonstrate anyway to receive federal funding. Environmental review would add another layer of expense and red tape, setting a threshold that King has never had to meet for the bike projects he's worked on in a dozen cities around the country and the world."

Thanks to Noah Kazis

Wednesday, January 26, 2011 in Streetsblog

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