New Places to Double Park on Upper West Side

Staying on the cars-parked-in-bike-lanes theme…

Bike lanes are popping up faster than you can say “community involvement” these days, like on West 90th and 91st Streets, where the final stripes have yet to be laid. (Shown above: West 90th between Columbus and Central Park West.)

I like:

• The lanes connect Riverside Drive and Central Park West, which has a north-bound bike lane on the street and a south-bound bike lane in the park.
• The lanes are on the left (i.e., car passenger) side of the road, where there’s a lower chance of being doored.

I don’t like:

• Double parkers! The photo above is from street cleaning day, but even on blocks not being cleaned there are cars aplenty in the new bike lanes.
• The proximity of the lanes to parked cars, placing cyclists who ride in the middle of the lane squarely in the door zone.
• The mixed message the city gives us about riding on the left, which is usually not allowed on relatively narrow streets like these. It should be!
• The lack of connection to the East Side.