Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bicycling

Manhattan CB 8 Committee Asks DOT for Crosstown UES Bike Lanes

4:19 PM EST on November 5, 2015

Strong crowd here at @CB8M, every member of the public who spoke was in favor of x-town bike lanes. @transalt pic.twitter.com/91VR7AZfcw

— Thomas DeVito (@PedestrianTom) November 4, 2015

Momentum continues to grow for creating crosstown bike lanes on the Upper East Side.

In an 11-1 vote with one abstention, the Manhattan Community Board 8 transportation committee passed a resolution last night requesting crosstown bike lane plans from NYC DOT. The full community board will vote on the resolution on November 18.

Currently, the Upper East Side has only one crosstown bike route, painted lanes along E. 90th and E. 91st streets. At a "street scan" earlier this month, volunteers with Transportation Alternatives and Bike New York scouted potential crosstown routes to add to the network. Many of them were in attendance last night.

The resolution calls on DOT to create two plans for the community board to review. The first plan would consist of painted crosstown lanes that can be added immediately. The second calls for a network of crosstown bike lanes along the safest appropriate routes, according to A. Scott Falk, the transportation committee co-chair.

Bike improvements usually meet some resistance at CB 8, but not this time. Falk remembers how contentious the arrival of Citi Bike was at the community board, with many arguing against the installation of bike-share stations. So he headed into Wednesday night's meeting not expecting a resolution to pass in the committee.

"To my surprise, there was no opposition from the public," Falk said. "Even among the board no one was saying there shouldn’t be any bike lanes. It was definitely a productive discussion and the tone was overwhelmingly positive."

At the street scan earlier this month, about 30 volunteers surveyed three potential crosstown bike routes: E. 61st Street/E. 62nd Street, E. 67th Street/E. 68th Street, and E. 72nd Street, which is a two-way street. Transportation Alternatives and Bike New York will send a report to local City Council members and DOT based on the survey.

A resolution requesting crosstown bike lanes from the full board later this month will increase the pressure on DOT to act.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Dynamic! MTA Could Hike Congestion Pricing Toll 25% on Gridlock Alert Days

The MTA said it had that power, and modeled it in its environmental assessment (see footnote 2 below), but no one ever reported it, until Wednesday.

December 6, 2023

Judge Orders Trial for Hit-and-Run Driver Who Turned Down ‘Reasonable’ Sentencing Offer

Judge Brendan Lantry turns down driver's request for mere probation for killing a delivery worker in 2022. The trial will start in January.

December 6, 2023

Wednesday’s Headlines: Another Big Day at City Hall Edition

Today is going to be another busy day for the livable streets crowd. So get ready with today's headlines.

December 6, 2023

Reporter’s Notebook: Will Eric Adams Ever Publicly Embrace Congestion Pricing?

The governor, the head of the MTA and the city's leading transit thinkers all celebrated congestion pricing on Tuesday as an historic moment while Mayor Adams spent Tuesday failing to live up to it.

December 6, 2023
See all posts