Some Westchester residents and local-business figures are pushing for a four-mile bike lane along what’s known as the Platinum Mile, reports the Sunday NY Times, just outside White Plains. Despite the fanciful name, the Platinum Mile is actually a stretch of office parks that borders busy I-287; Morgan Stanley and Starwood Hotels are among the major employers based there.
According to Patrick Natarelli, a county planner, writes Annie Correal, the bike path would lie directly on Westchester Avenue, the service road for I-287, but would probably be separated from traffic by a barrier and outfitted with bridges or tunnels around intersections.
Not surprisingly, the plan has run into some money woes, but county exec Andy Spano has urged the planners to apply for a $3.5 million federal grant for the project.
An intrepid Times reporter tested the potential corridor on their bike.
On a recent afternoon, Michael Oliva, the Mid-Atlantic coordinator for the East Coast Greenway Alliance, drove with a reporter along Westchester Avenue. Mr. Oliva said that he had ridden his bicycle on the route and that the wide shoulders and gentle curves of the service road made it an easy ride. A curtain of trees mostly separated the road from the freeway. The only real problems were a few intersections, he said.
“It was O.K. riding back there, but here you can see how tricky it would be,” said Mr. Oliva, pointing at the intersection of the Hutchinson River Parkway and I-287. “People coming off the Hutch and trying to get on 287 are just flying across here.”