Cyclist Injured in Crash in Eighth Avenue Bike Lane Gap

This kind of thing happens all too often on Eighth Avenue. Photo: Streetsblog
This kind of thing happens all too often on Eighth Avenue. Photo: Streetsblog

A cyclist was hurt when he was hit by a truck driver in front of the Port Authority Bus Terminal — in the three-block portion of Eighth Avenue where the protected bike lane disappears to accommodate cabs, a witness and police said.

It is unclear how seriously the bike rider was hurt, but a witness said he was struck by the truck as he maneuvered around a stopped bus and into traffic — a move necessitated because the protected bike lane on northbound Eighth Avenue abruptly ends at 39th Street and begins again at 42nd Street.

Another view of the crash.
Another view of the crash.

“The cyclist was in the right lane, but merged into the middle when the bus crossed in front of him,” the witness told Streetsblog. “That’s when he got creamed by the flatbed.”

The witness said the cyclist was being treated at the scene.

The area is in desperate need of traffic calming, wider sidewalks for pedestrians and better bike infrastructure.

“Riding from Brooklyn to Rockefeller Center hundreds of times, this was always the scariest few blocks of the commute,” writer Steve Koepp told Streetsblog. “The bike lane sends you into the maw. Only got bumped a couple of times, but oh, the angst!”

Only got bumped a couple of times.

Think about that, New York City Department of Transportation.

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