A plan to radically change the streetscapes of the Upper West Side will be presented tonight at P.S. 87 by the Upper West Side Streets Renaissance Campaign that has been supported by Community Board 7, the Coalition for a Livable West Side, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Council Member Gale Brewer, Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, Transportation Alternatives, Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates and NYC Streets Renaissance among others.

The proposal calls for reducing street lanes for automobiles, creating street lanes for bicycles and expanding sidewalks not only at intersections but also occasionally at mid-block.

The campaign has produced a 51-page study that is available at www.tranalt.org/newsroom/releases/2787 that maintains that "people living on high traffic volume streets have fewer friends and acquaintances than those living on quiet streets" and that "seniors and children are often left stranded indoors, isolated from the rest of the neighborhood."

"No one should fear for their life on a trip to the grocery store, or while taking their kids to school. Yet on the Upper West Side, over 5,000 pedestrians and cyclists were injured or killed between 1995 and 2005 in collision with cars," the report maintained, adding that "the 10 percent of UWS residents who commute by car enjoy 228 times more street space per capita than those who walk."

The proposal calls for a taming "dangerous intersections" and implementing "calming measures such as chicanes, parking swaps, and speed regulation on afflicted residential streets to safeguard their residents." "The pedestrian-friendly character of our neighborhoods distinguishes New York from other American cities an is one of our most important assets. Ye for the last fifty yeas, city streets have been manage less for the benefit of neighborhoods they serve and more for the traffic passing through. Although most of its residents travel by foot, transit or bicycle, New York City's streets prioritize drivers."

The campaign began November 7, 2007 with an exhibit and a talk by Jan Gehl, a planner involved in the 30-year pedestrianization of Copenhagen, followed by meetings and a talk by Donald Shoup, a leader in parking policy and street management. In January, a design workshop was hosted by Michael Kin, a street design expert. Three on-line surveys were held and then last May two design workshops were held, one on a "bike network" and the other on redesigning typical streets.

The report found that 54 percent of Upper West Side residents commute by subway, 9 percent by bus, 12 percent by walking, 5 percent by taxi, 1 percent by bicycle ad 10 percent by driving.

On Broadway, the plan would create "green" bike lanes on both sides of the avenue's median and would create angled parking on the side-streets and add bicycle parking on every block. Furthermore, curbs would be extended at intersections and in some cases also at mid-block to provide more space for people to navigate the street...and shorten the crossing distance for pedestrians and create sitting and bike parking areas. The curb extensions can also provide "bus bulbs" that obviate the need for buses to swing in and out of travel lanes. On one-way avenues, the plan proposes "protected bicycle facilities that line the street that does not have bus stops and would be protected by bollards and planters." In some locations, the plan calls for "extending the median tip further into the intersection" to "slow motorists down, providing an extra buffer for crossing pedestrians while visually interrupting the straight-line thoroughfare feel of the street and focusing drivers' attention."