Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bicycling

A Plea for DOT to Design Bike Lanes With Safer Intersections

This intersection design might have saved Kelly Hurley’s life. Image: Reed Rubey

Last week a turning box truck driver struck Kelly Hurley, 31, as she rode in the First Avenue bike lane at the intersection with 9th Street. Yesterday, Hurley died from the injuries.

The fatal crash has led to renewed calls for DOT to adopt safer intersection designs for protected bike lanes. The intersection of First Avenue and 9th Street has a "mixing zone" treatment, where cyclists and turning drivers are expected to negotiate the same space at the same time. Intersections with mixing zones have higher rates of cyclist injuries than intersections with "split-phase" signals, which give cyclists and turning drivers separate phases.

On Tuesday, the transportation committee of Manhattan Community Board 7 unanimously passed a resolution calling on DOT to eliminate "mixing zone" intersections on Columbus Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue. The resolution calls for designs that maintain more physical separation between cyclists and motor traffic, force drivers to take turns slower, and extend the bike lane's green paint through the intersection.

The concept is similar to the intervention staged by activists using orange cones at First and 9th last week:

Bollards would be placed at intersections to increase physical separation between cyclists and motorists and slow turning drivers. Image: Reed Rubey
Bollards would be placed at intersections to increase physical separation between cyclists and motorists and slow turning drivers. Image: Reed Rubey
Bollards would be placed at intersections to increase physical separation between cyclists and motorists and slow turning drivers. Image: Reed Rubey

By installing bollards all the way through the far side of the crosswalk, motorists would take safer turns, said Reed Rubey, the architect who put together the concept.

"When you do a sharp 90-degree turn, you have a better opportunity to see pedestrians," Rubey told Streetsblog. "Putting cones like that at every mixing zone, actually at every intersection in the city, would probably be the least-expensive and most effective way to save lives."

Rubey and fellow TransAlt volunteer Willow Stelzer hope to bring their concept to the transportation committee of Manhattan CB 3, the district where Hurley was killed, at its meeting next month.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Eyes on the Street: DOT’s ‘Broadway Vision’ Starts to Clear Up

The Department of Transportation has transformed Broadway into a new corridor for pedestrians and cyclists.

July 8, 2025

Amsterdam Leads the Way on E-Bike Regulation — Should New York Follow Suit?

The city's biking- and walking-friendly streets expose the hypocrisy harsh e-bike enforcement without better street design.

July 8, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines: Rethinking Avenue B Edition

DOT is taking feedback on the future of Avenue B. Plus more news.

July 8, 2025

Eric Adams’s ‘Dept. of Sustainable Delivery’ Isn’t Actually A Department

The "Department of Sustainable Delivery" will launch with 45 "peace officers" in 2028, the mayor said on Monday.

July 7, 2025

New Air Quality Stats Dispel Earlier Forecasts for Congestion Pricing Pollution

Air quality has improved or remained steady across the five boroughs since congestion pricing launched in January, city health department data showed.

July 7, 2025

‘Rush’ Routes Debut in Queens Bus Map Overhaul More Than Five Years in the Making

The MTA's new "rush" routes make fewer stops in busy downtown areas to avoid wasted time merging in and out of traffic.

July 7, 2025
See all posts