A Central Park Conservancy plan to designate two paths in the northern part of the park as shared routes for cyclists and pedestrians by mid-July has met with objection by some members of Community Board 8 on the Upper East Side, according to an article today by Amy Zimmer at DNAinfo.com.

Cyclists have been calling for access to the paths - one between E. 97th and West 96th streets and the other between East 102nd and West 106th or West 100th streets - so they have a safe way to cross the park as they're now relegated to riding on the transverse roads with cars or breaking the rules by going on the paths, the article said.

But many members of CB8's parks committee, who were briefed on the conservancy's plan yesterday, "worry the shared paths will be dangerous for pedestrians and "they blasted the conservancy for trying to accommodate the cyclists and voted against the plan - though their role is only advisory.

"I see my city, the way I travel and how I get around being revamped to accommodate a very small percentage of the population," said CB8 member Michele Birnbaum in the article.

Caroline Greenleaf, of the Central Park Conservancy, told the CB8 committee the plan will serve as a trial run to see if this will help balance the needs of the park's 38 million annual users, the article continued, adding that "we are really looking at this as an experiment....We owe it to the communities of all users who want to be in the park for different reasons to at least try this."

The shared path's success, she said, will depend on "people who have civility," adding that the paths' speed limit will be clearly marked for 5 mph, "which for us is one of the most important elements," the article said.

"'It's not a speed track,' Greenleaf said. 'And dogs must be on leashes, not one that's six-feet long. We recognize there will be all sorts of users.' Not only does the conservancy not want riders racing by at 10 or 15 mph, they are also hoping to encourage cyclists to yield to pedestrians and walk their bikes through crowds. Greenleaf acknowledged that 'enforcement is really tricky,' but said she hoped park users would feel enough of a sense of 'ownership' of the space to call out cyclists' bad behavior," the article said.

Greenleaf also said the conversancy planned to host a bicycle education day on July 2 in advance of officially launching the shared paths.

"You also have bad pedestrians. You have bad drivers," said CB8 member Judy Schneider, one of two committee members who supported the shared paths. "Yes, you have bad bicyclists... It doesn't mean we shouldn't give this a chance to see if it works," the article said.

Barbara Rudder, co-chair of the parks committee, said that the shared path in Carl Schurz park was full of cyclists interrupting walkers with grating 'out of the way' shouts," the article said.