Eyes on the Street: Cycle Track Construction Porn

There’s a lot of protected bike infrastructure in various stages of completion right now, and I had the chance to take some pictures on the way to the office today. Above is a trench for part of the Sands Street bike path, the long-awaited Manhattan Bridge approach in Brooklyn that was originally slated to start construction in 2006. The middle of the road has been dug up from Gold Street to Navy Street. Someone on the crew said it will be a while before the project gets finished.

In Manhattan, markings are down for the Grand Street cycle track, a path that will rely on parked cars for physical separation (no digging required, see DOT’s PDF). Below is the “mixing zone” at the intersection of Wooster Street. Note the van pulling out over a curb cut into the bike lane…

…here’s that van again, which a parking lot attendant left in the bike lane while the owner (carrying bag) came to drive it away.

Here’s a shot of the mixing zone signs and markings, looking in the opposite direction…

…and here’s the same view from a little further back. The space to the left of the buffer is for parking.

The concrete has set on this pedestrian refuge at the corner of Bank Street and Hudson Street, which is where the Eighth Avenue cycle track (part of a broader re-design — PDF) will begin.

Another refuge in the works one block north, where Hudson turns into Eighth.