"Well, I thought I knew everything about safety ....
Today (Jan 29 -Sat) I took the chance that there would be enough shoulder on 9W to ride. Since I live in Englewood, I took back roads to 9W and joined 9W at Sage Rd. Shortly, there was a shoulder - ""Good, I'm safe, I thought."" That was soooo wrong. Five police cars started to pass me at high speed - more than 70, I'm sure. The rate of passing police cars was sporatic. BTW, I later learned the police are equipped with defibulaters and ususally are Paramedics or EMTs out here in NJ.
I decided to stop to fix my cyclometer which wasn't registering, so I pulled over to discover the wheel was flipped. I flipped it correctly. In the midst, I heard another siren, only this time, I looked back. There was no real reason for me to look back because there was so little traffic - especially travelling south, but something told me to look back.
A vehicle had moved into the shoulder (my shoulder) to allow the police car to pass - looked like it was travelling at a high speed. I jumped into the snow bank - leaving my Trek to it's doomed destiny. Luckily, the SUV moved in time to the vehicle lane. We (bike and myself) were saved. It was scarey. Later I discovered two cars in a terrible accident. Later, even Palisade Parkway traffic was backe up.
9W is bikable but you really need to be careful. There isn't shoulder the entire way to Englewood Cliffs to Piermont. Most of the way is fine.
Since I commute to SoHo from Englewood daily, I can tell you the roads are fine all the way to 9W - this week for a road bike. I travel West Side Bike Path, Riverside Drive (north from 96th St) and over GW, Hudson Terrace. All these roads are fine for roadies. Tuesday and Wednesday weren only good for mountain bikes and hybrids.
The temps are up ... so, if you are debating to go to Piermont or Nyack, I would say, ""go for it!"" Piermont Bike Shop said I was #8 for the day,
diane"
Road Shoulder Safety
Maybe it is worth it for those with recent experiences on the rebuilt 9W to make some noise about lack of shoulder, bike-unfriendly drainage grates, etc.?
E-mail Commissioner Jack Lettiere at the New Jersey Department of Transportation:
http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/email.shtm
NJDOT Bicycle Advocate: see http://www.state.nj.us/njcommuter/html/statehwy.htm (no email is given)
Contacts for NJ county roads:
http://www.state.nj.us/njcommuter/html/countyrd.htm
NJ Pedestrian & Bicycle Resource Project: http://policy.rutgers.edu/vtc/pedbike/index.html
Join forces with NJ cycling clubs on this? See: http://www.state.nj.us/njcommuter/html/bikeclub.htm for a list.
Even without snowbanks, 9W has a case of vanishing shoulders. The recent roadwork has left us with less shoulder width in which to ride. 9W, a designated bike route has become less safe to ride. No doubt highway funds were augmented by tapping into alternative transportation funds in the construction of 9W but the orignal intent, that of alternative transportation was subverted. We need an advocate. I emailed TA on behalf of the NYCC but received no reply.
Incidently, I use your same route to the GW Bridge from Greenwich Village. It seems a reasonable compromise between speed and safety.
9W is the veritable aorta of NYCC.
