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

DOT Tests Out New Intersection Design for Protected Bike Lanes

DOT recently redesigned of the intersection of Columbus Avenue and 70th Street to make cyclists more visible to drivers turning across the bike lane.

DOT is starting to test out bikeway intersection designs that could replace the "mixing zone" treatment the agency has favored for the past several years.

In a mixing zone, drivers turning across the bike lane approach from an angle where they have to look at mirrors or over the shoulder for passing cyclists. In the new design, drivers crossing the bike lane turn at a tighter angle that slows their approach and positions them to see passing cyclists through the front windshield.

A tipster sent in the above photo showing the new design at Columbus Avenue and 70th Street. The mixing zone has been replaced with a painted pedestrian island that redirects the path of turning motorists.

Intersections with mixing zones have a higher rate of cyclist injuries than intersections where cyclists and turning drivers each have a separate signal phase.

After a turning box truck driver killed Kelly Hurley as she biked through the mixing zone on First Avenue at 9th Street, DOT said it would test out different intersection designs along protected bicycle lanes.

The First Avenue mixing zone where a turning driver struck and killed Kelly Hurley. Google Maps
The First Avenue mixing zone where a turning driver struck and killed Kelly Hurley. Google Maps
The First Avenue mixing zone where a turning driver struck and killed Kelly Hurley. Google Maps

Since the spring, volunteers with Transportation Alternatives have been pitching Manhattan community boards on an intersection design concept from architect Reed Rubey that calls for plastic bollards to create more separation for cyclists and slow approaching drivers in the turn lane. Six Manhattan community boards have called on DOT to adopt the concept.

The design that DOT is testing on Columbus Avenue goes a bit further and eliminates the turn lane altogether, adding the pedestrian island for separation instead. There's also an area painted green where cyclists can stop on the far side of the crosswalk during a red light to establish themselves in turning drivers' field of vision.

In addition to Columbus and 70th, sources have spotted this new intersection design at Amsterdam Avenue and 85th Street, Ninth Avenue and 38th Street, and Fourth Avenue and 13th Street.

If you see one, snap a photo and send it to tips@streetsblog.org.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

‘Preventable’: Hit-and-Run Driver Kills Two on Third. Ave Corridor Eric Adams Refuses to Make Safer

A motorist struck and killed two men on a strip where Mayor Adams recently shelved a safety redesign amid a backlash from local business interests.

July 11, 2025

Why No BRT For NYC? Two New Reports Tackle Why Your Bus Service Sucks

Years of bus priority projects barely made a dent in speeds because Big Apple leaders won't install real bus rapid transit, two recent reports argue.

July 11, 2025

Citi Bike Riders Are Pissed About Eric Adams’s 15 MPH Speed Limit

Citi Bike's new 15 mph max speed limit is a bad deal for riders and a potential threat to safety, riders said.

July 11, 2025

Friday Video: Cyclists, Check Out Your Next City

Streetfilms' Clarence Eckerson visited London earlier this summer to check in on the Big Smoke's cycling revolution.

July 11, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Just the News Edition

We've got one more workday before we can hit the beach. Plus the news.

July 11, 2025

Council To Close Instacart Loophole, Pass Delivery Industry Regulation Bills

The City Council will vote on Monday to close the "Instacart loophole" and force all app companies to pay workers a minimum wage.

July 10, 2025
See all posts