Protected Bike Lanes for 26th Street and 29th Street Are Home Free

Manhattan Community Board 5 endorsed DOT’s plan for crosstown protected bike lanes on 26th Street and 29th Street last night by a vote of 30 to 6. DOT has said installation will likely begin in “late spring.”

This was the third community board vote on the project, following CB 4 and CB 6, which gave the thumbs up back in February.

On a typical block of 26th Street and 29th Street, DOT’s redesign will put a five-foot-wide parking-protected bike lane alongside a two-foot buffer. On narrower blocks the bike lane will not be protected [PDF].

These will be the first crosstown protected bike lanes in Midtown. Remedying the absence of safe crosstown routes became an urgent priority after charter bus operators struck and killed Dan Hanegby and Michael Mamoukakis on 26th Street and 29th Street, respectively.

Afterward, Transportation Alternatives, CB 4, and City Council transportation chair Ydanis Rodriguez called on DOT to address the situation with upgrades to the bike network.

DOT released its plans for 26th and 29th Street in January, and is also planning crosstown protected lanes on 13th Street, 52nd Street and 55th Street, and a to-be-determined pair of streets through the Times Square area.