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.
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
FULL STORY: Enviro Law Experts: Review For Bike Lanes a Waste of Taxpayer Money
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
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