The city is considering installing a two-way bike boulevard on four blocks of Broadway north of Union Square, as part of its “Broadway Vision” project to make the landmark thoroughfare more bike- and pedestrian-friendly all the way to Columbus Circle, officials said on Monday.
The Department of Transportation began gathering public feedback for "the possibility of a new two-way bike boulevard" on Broadway, between E. 21st and E. 17th streets, which is slated to get a revamp next year, City Hall said in a statement.
"Broadway Vision is more than a project — it’s a new way of looking at how this iconic street can serve New Yorkers and support our city’s comeback," added Mayor Adams in the same statement.
The section of Broadway between 21st and 18th streets already has a parking-protected bike lane. Photo: Kevin Duggan
Advocates cheered the Adams administration for forging ahead on the nearly decade-and-a-half initiative to overhaul the city's most famous street, but urged Hizzoner to fully close the southern stretch to cars.
"Our hope is that they’ll do full pedestrianization and not kind of a half-measure," said Katherine Nessel, who co-leads the Broadway Linear Park campaign at Transportation Alternatives. "If cars can only drive down four blocks, then why not make it fully pedestrianized?"
Bike boulevards are corridors designed to prioritize bicycle travel with narrower driving lanes, chicanes, traffic-direction diverters, plus more bike and pedestrian space. Drivers can still access all of the roadway, but they must reduce their speeds and sometimes need to approach some blocks from a different direction.
As part of Broadway vision, the city moved forward with some plazas that bar cars, plus other spaces that still allow automobiles, albeit at slower speeds.
Most recently DOT added two plazas and two-way bike boulevards between W. 32nd and W. 25th street this spring.
Nessel said the city's recently installed plazas on the two blocks between W. 25th and W. 27th were great, but added that the shared car and bike design on the sections north of that — including at last year's crash site — still enabled drivers to get in the way of the two-way bike traffic there.
"The space is kind of designed where no one really feels like they have agency over the space," she said.
That's despite automobiles making up just one percent of traffic, according to a recent count by the advocates between 32nd and 31st streets and from 4-5 p.m. in June.
An SUV driver gets in the way of an oncoming bike lane on Broadway looking south of 32nd Street. Photo provided by Broadway Linear Park
The stretch slated for the next upgrade currently has a southbound parking-protected bike lane between 21st and 18th streets, which devolves into an unprotected bike lane for the southernmost block connecting to Union Square.
Locals said the sections near the square are already a safe place to ride due to low volumes of car traffic, but Streetsblog also observed cyclists routinely riding against traffic on the existing bike lanes.
“You see it, it’s not really too good,” said Jammar Brown as he locked up his e-bike and watched other cyclists going the wrong way.
Cyclists already go both ways on the stretch, which is currently southbound only. Photo: Kevin Duggan
Generally, residents welcomed the extra space for cyclists and pedestrians.
“Bike friendly is always great, as long as it doesn’t create traffic around,” said Alisa C., who lives nearby. “I bike here often. I rarely see any cars here. … This is the safest street to block.”
The plans to reclaim space from cars on Broadway date back to the Bloomberg administration in 2009, and in more recent years DOT has worked with business improvement districts to add more pedestrian spaces, outdoor dining, and bike lanes around Times Square, Herald Square, and Madison Square Park.
Please join us today 8/21, Wednesday 8/23, and Friday 8/25, to share your feedback about the next phase of Broadway Vision, which includes safety improvements on Broadway from 17th St to 21st St.
Kevin Duggan joined Streetsblog in October, 2022, after covering transportation for amNY. Duggan has been covering New York since about 2017 after getting his masters in journalism from Dublin City University in Ireland. After some freelancing, he landed a job with Vince DiMiceli’s Brooklyn Paper, where he covered southern Brooklyn neighborhoods and, later, Brownstone Brooklyn. He’s on Twitter at @kduggan16. And his email address is kevin@streetsblog.org.
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