LES Bike-Ped Improvements Sail Through Manhattan CB 3

New bike lanes leading to and from the Williamsburg Bridge encountered almost no opposition from Manhattan Community Board 3.

Two weeks after NYCDOT revealed a package of pedestrian and cyclist improvements for the Lower East Side, the full membership of Community Board 3 voted overwhelmingly to approve the plans. 

There was only one "no" vote against the proposals last night, said Transportation Alternatives' Caroline Samponaro. "There were three strong two-minute speeches in favor," she added, "and no one spoke opposed." 

The plans will paint new curbside bike lanes on Stanton, Rivington, and Suffolk Streets, defining routes on low-traffic side streets to help cyclists avoid Delancey Street as they get on and off the Williamsburg Bridge. The board also voted in favor of a planted median on the wide and barren Bowery. Implementation of both projects is scheduled for May.

What's next for the Lower East Side? Samponaro said that a top TA priority is to ensure that plans for First and Second Avenues -- "the single biggest investment in biking in New York City, ever" -- are implemented effectively. So is helping cyclists deal with dangerous, traffic-ridden Delancey Street, which these improvements don't address. That will happen "in part by letting folks know about alternative routes and also by supporting those who are trying to create a safe connection" along Delancey itself, she said.