Bike Lanes

Last week, Staten Island Community Board 1 passed a resolution asking DOT to install bike lanes, while in Manhattan, a community-requested plan for a road diet and pedestrian islands continues to be delayed by two Harlem community boards.

Last week, DOT presented a plan to calm traffic on Morningside Avenue in Harlem [PDF] with a road diet and pedestrian islands. Community Board 10's transportation committee, which has a track record of dithering on and opposing livable streets projects, asked DOT for more data. Tonight, the action shifts to adjacent Community Board 9, which also covers the project area and could be poised to pass a resolution in support of the project.

If you ride on the Second Avenue protected bike lane through Kips Bay, you know it can get a little hairy on the way downtown: The section between 23rd Street and 14th Street has no physical protection. On this stretch, the barrier of parked cars yields to a narrow painted buffer, creating an opportunity for illegal parking and offering minimal separation from speeding drivers. Under a DOT plan [PDF], that gap could be filled to create a continuous protected bike lane from 34th Street to 2nd Street.

The Tribeca committee of Manhattan Community Board 1 passed a resolution last week in support of a DOT proposal to add bicycle lanes on Church Street and West Broadway [PDF].

In a significant step forward for American bike infrastructure, the Federal Highway Administration issued a memorandum late last month essentially endorsing street designs like protected bike lanes.

This morning, the New York Times released a comprehensive poll on what New Yorkers think of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and programs from his administration. Bike-share, bike lanes, and plazas got high approval numbers across boroughs, ages, races, and income levels. Many of the mayoral candidates might be hesitant to acknowledge it, but New Yorkers love their livable streets.

Although Hoboken has taken the lead on implementing New Jersey's best bike infrastructure, Jersey City looked like it was poised to catch up to its northern neighbor last year. Mayor Jerramiah Healy laid out a plan to bring bike lanes and sharrows to his city's streets, but the plan stagnated under his administration. Newly-elected Mayor Steven Fulop says the lanes will be implemented, but Jersey City cyclists will have to wait until the fall.

Foot-dragging from Community Board 7 meant it was split into two phases, but a protected bike lane, with pedestrian islands, is close to the finish line for Columbus Avenue between 110th and 70th Streets. The initial paint went down a couple weeks ago. This afternoon, DOT crews were installing the pedestrian islands and striping the bike lane with green paint.

It may be news to the national audience of BuzzFeed, but Anthony Weiner once said he would hold ribbon cuttings on his first day in Gracie Mansion to rip out the city's bike lanes. He now insists the expletive-laced promise was a joke, but he's firm in his opinion that at least two of the city's bike lanes should be removed. He reiterated that position in an interview with BuzzFeed's Ben Smith yesterday, adding that he's "not going to be bullied" on the issue by "policy jihadists."