This Week: Tell DOT 5th Ave Needs a Protected Bike Lane in Midtown

This summer, DOT began "flipping" the parking lane along 15 blocks of the Fifth Avenue bike lane, between Madison Square and Washington Square, to give people on bikes physical protection from car traffic. It's a big improvement for one of the most-biked streets in the city, but north of 24th Street, Fifth Avenue still lacks any bike infrastructure at all.

Tonight, DOT staff will present enhancements to the Fifth Avenue bus lane between 60th Street and 34th Street at the Manhattan Community Board 5 transportation committee meeting. Volunteers with Transportation Alternatives' Manhattan committee plan to ask DOT to expand the scope of the project with protected bike lanes and pedestrian safety improvements.

Here are this week’s highlights from the Streetsblog calendar. Check the full calendar for more info on these and other events.

• Tonight: DOT presents Fifth Avenue bus lane improvements at Manhattan Community Board 5. 111 West 40th Street, Manhattan. 6 p.m. 
• Tuesday: The Brooklyn CB 8 transportation committee considers DOT safety improvements for the western blocks of Eastern Parkway [PDF] and a proposed street seat outside the Blue Marble ice cream shop. 820 Prospect Place, Brooklyn. 6:30 p.m.
• Also Tuesday: Mayor de Blasio will attend a town hall with Council Member Dan Garodnick, and TransAlt volunteers plan to raise the issue of the un-protected and frequently blocked bike lane on Second Avenue. Art and Design High School, 245 East 56th Street, Manhattan. 7 p.m.
• Thursday: A play street application for the Bloomingdale School on 104th Street is on the agenda of the Manhattan Community Board 7 transportation committee. 250 West 87th Street. 7 p.m.

Watch the calendar for updates. Drop us a line if you have an event we should know about.