Bicycle Infrastructure

Dyckman Cycle Track Proposal Still in Limbo After Two Years

After almost two years of waiting for DOT analysis of a proposed cycle track for Dyckman Street in Upper Manhattan, advocates this week were promised ... more waiting.

By Brad Aaron

3:13 PM EST on December 9, 2009

After almost two years of waiting for DOT analysis of a proposed cycle track for Dyckman Street in Upper Manhattan, advocates this week were promised … more waiting.

Dyckman at Nagle Ave. Photo: Dry Fly Guy/Flickr

At Monday’s meeting of the Community Board 12 Traffic and Transportation Committee, bike path supporters expected a short update on the citizen-generated plan to link Manhattan’s east- and west-side Greenways through Inwood, to be followed by a more detailed report in January. What they got, however, was news that action is on hold pending the completion of a neighborhood traffic study, with a vague pledge to gather stakeholders afterward, possibly next spring.

Jonathan from Inwood and Washington Heights Livable Streets posted an account of the meeting. “The only person who said anything about the Dyckman Greenway Connector was the DOT rep,” he says.

Though CB 12 members have nothing to say lately, things were looking better a year ago, when the committee formally asked DOT to explore the connector concept. Without a study to hang its hat on, the board has shown little if any inclination to follow other Manhattan CBs in adopting a preemptive resolution in favor of major cyclist-pedestrian improvements. And ’round and ’round it goes.

DOT, meanwhile, didn’t exactly help the cause when it removed a bike shelter from Dyckman, reportedly because it was underused.

We have messages in with DOT and CB 12 about this week’s meeting and the city’s apparent lack of interest in the project.

Brad Aaron

Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.

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