New York City's Department of Transportation is quietly experimenting with a new design for Class III bike routes on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Streetsblog tipster Jason Varone photographed the new, not-yet-finished bike stencils on Clinton Street between Grand and Delancey this morning.
Often referred to as "shared lanes," Class III routes are put down in places where bicycles and motor vehicles are supposed to ride together as equals in the middle of street. Varone reports that there are three half-finished stencils between Grand and Broome and one more closer to Delancey. In size, the stencils are roughly the length of a bicycle not including the unpainted chevrons above the stencil. The new markings continue onto Delancey Street leading to the bicycle/pedestrian overpass above the FDR Drive.
There are three new things about these bike lane designs. First off, the bicycle stencil is in the middle of the street. Second, the stencils are being marked on a relatively narrow side street. Third, it looks like a couple of chevrons will be painted atop the little bike man. This particular bike lane design has never before been used in New York City.
The only other example of shared lane markings that I know of in New York City can be found on University Avenue in the Bronx. These were installed in the Spring of 2003.
The markings in the Bronx don't have the little chevrons up top and, more importantly, they are on one lane of a much wider, busier street than the new markings. I think you would be hard-pressed to find a cyclist who feels that these particular shared-lane markings do much good for Bronx cyclists. The new stencils appear to be a much more thoughtful design and implementation.
While shared lane markings may be new for New York City, they are well-established and well-tested in other parts of the country. Berkeley, California's Bicycle Boulevards use much larger stencils than the ones currently being painted on Clinton Street.
On a neighborhood advocate's note: While I am happy to see DOT experimenting with a new bicycle lane design, I am now more baffled than ever about the agency's failure to follow through on its commitment to install shared-lane markings on Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn, pictured above. More on this issue in a forthcoming posting.
AARON NAPARSTEK is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparsteks journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. Naparstek is the author of "Honku: The Zen Antidote for Road Rage" (Villard, 2003), a book of humorous haiku poetry inspired by the endless motorist sociopathy observed from his apartment window. Prior to launching Streetsblog, Naparstek worked as an interactive media producer, pioneering some of the Web's first music web sites, online communities, live webcasts and social networking services. Naparstek is currently in Cambridge with his wife and two young sons where he is enjoying a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Naparstek is a co-founder of the Park Slope Neighbors community group and the Grand Army Plaza Coalition. You can find more of his work here: http://www.naparstek.com.