This Week: At Last — the Delancey Street Protected Bike Lane!

The city's previous strategy was to divert cyclists away from Delancey Street as much as possible. Photo: Google Maps
The city's previous strategy was to divert cyclists away from Delancey Street as much as possible. Photo: Google Maps

This Wednesday, NYC DOT will present a plan for a protected bike lane on Delancey Street between the Williamsburg Bridge and Allen Street. It’s been a long time coming.

Since DOT began putting down protected bike lanes in 2007, getting one on Delancey Street has been a high priority for advocates. Every day thousands of people bike on the Williamsburg Bridge, but for several years the city’s strategy was to funnel them to smaller side streets, minimizing exposure to Delancey’s high-speed traffic. With bike traffic expected to surge when the L train is disrupted for 15 months, only a direct, high-capacity connection on Delancey itself will do.

DOT previewed the Delancey bike lane last summer. The project will complement bicycle improvements on the Brooklyn side of the bridge.

Here are this week’s highlights. Check the full calendar for more info on these and other events.

  • Today: On the agenda of the Manhattan CB 6 transportation committee: responses to the board’s survey on dangerous intersections and a request for more red light cameras. High School of Art & Design, Auditorium, 245 E. 56th Street, Manhattan. 7 p.m.
  • Wednesday: The Riders Alliance hosts a strategy session in Canarsie about solutions to keep L train riders moving during the upcoming shutdown. Brooklyn Public Library, Stone Avenue Branch, 581 Mother Gaston Boulevard, Brooklyn. 6:30 p.m.
  • Also Wednesday: DOT presents its Delancey Street plan to CB 3. Downtown Art, 70 East 4th Street, Manhattan. 6:45 p.m.
  • Saturday: Learn how to advocate for better bus service with the Riders Alliance. 121 6th Avenue, 6th Floor, Manhattan. 11 a.m.

Watch the calendar for updates. Drop us a line if you have an event we should know about.

  • J

    Great, but does DOT really not realize that one of the busiest N-S bike routes is just a few blocks west of Allen Street (Christie St/2nd Ave)? and another one a few blocks west of that (Lafayette). It’s not like Delancey Street becomes super bike friendly once you cross Allen Street. The transit equivalent would be like the L train ending at 6th Ave, instead of connecting to 8th Ave.

  • Jeff

    Incidentally, the L train did indeed end at 6th Ave for the first seven years of its existence!

  • ItsEasyBeingGreen

    Not connecting to Chrystie seems like a weird oversight considering the recent improvement to Chrystie and the fact that Delancey is just as wide (and with the median) at Chrystie as it is at Allen. Going to Lafayette would be more difficult so I can see why they’d hold that off for later.

    Chrystie is even in the same CB!

  • BortLicensePlatez

    Will be a good thing to avoid because you know the pigs will be out ticketing in full force there.

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