Bicycle Infrastructure

Eyes on the Street: Clinton Street’s New Bikeway

A new two-way bikeway is under construction to provide a connection between the Williamsburg Bridge and the East River Greenway.

By Stephen Miller

12:48 PM EDT on August 25, 2015

The bikeway isn't complete yet, but it's already getting used. Photo: Stephen Miller — The bikeway isn’t complete yet, but it’s already getting used. Photo: Stephen Miller

A new two-way bikeway is under construction to provide a connection between the Williamsburg Bridge and the East River Greenway.

The route along Clinton Street extends the existing two-way protected bike lane between Delancey and Grand an additional five blocks to South Street, where it connects to the waterfront bike path beneath the FDR Drive.

The waterfront greenway, which runs along South Street, will also be getting an upgrade: concrete barriers to protect greenway users from cars and trucks. DOT says the installation schedule for this component of the project is still being determined.

Cinton Street is getting a two-way bikeway and painted curb extensions. Image: DOT [PDF] — Clinton Street is getting a two-way bikeway and painted curb extensions. Image: DOT [PDF]

Changes are already underway, with new striping being installed on Clinton Street. The bikeway will run along Clinton’s west curb, which will no longer have parking. On the east curb, angled parking will be striped to squeeze in more spaces. There will be all of two fewer parking spaces when all is said and done.

Together with painted curb extensions at corners, the angled parking will help narrow the car lanes to reduce speeding.

Changes on Clinton Street should be complete next month, DOT said.

A curb extension being painted on Clinton Street at Henry Street. Photo: Stephen Miller

The plan was supported by Community Board 3 in April [PDF]. The board also asked DOT for additional traffic signals and a mid-block crosswalk on Clinton between Grand and East Broadway. Those are not included in this plan.

DOT had also proposed converting Rutgers Street to one-way southbound operation, but that was not supported by CB 3 [PDF]. Update: DOT says it is not moving forward this portion of the project, and will consider other possible changes after work is complete on Clinton and South streets.

Stephen Miller

In spring 2017, Stephen wrote for Streetsblog USA, covering the livable streets movement and transportation policy developments around the nation. From August 2012 to October 2015, he was a reporter for Streetsblog NYC, covering livable streets and transportation issues in the city and the region. After joining Streetsblog, he covered the tail end of the Bloomberg administration and the launch of Citi Bike. Since then, he covered mayoral elections, the de Blasio administration's ongoing Vision Zero campaign, and New York City's ever-evolving street safety and livable streets movements.

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