Bike Lanes

Whenever street space is allocated for bicycling, someone will inevitably level the accusation that the city is waging a “war on cars.” But it turns out the people in those cars want separate space for bicycles too, according to surveys conducted in two major California metropolitan areas. Bike lanes make everyone feel safer -- even drivers.

A DOT proposal that would extend protected bike lanes and add shared lane markings to First Avenue and 59th Street received a 13-1 supportive vote from Manhattan Community Board 6's transportation committee last night, moving improved bike access at the Queensboro Bridge one step closer to reality after three committee meetings on the topic.

Last night, Manhattan Community Board 8 voted, 23-6 with four abstentions, to support DOT's plan to improve bike access to the Queensboro Bridge. Meanwhile, Community Board 6's transportation committee, which has yet to consider a resolution supporting the proposal, will host its third meeting on the topic next month.

Anthony Weiner, enemy of congestion pricing and infamous bike lane antagonist, is talking about street design on the campaign trail. Though there was plenty of warning this day would come, it's still kind of surreal.

At the end of its second meeting on a DOT proposal to improve bike safety on the Manhattan approaches to the Queensboro Bridge, the transportation committee of Manhattan Community Board 6 reached a conclusion. The committee needed more time to make up its mind.

Our most recent progress report on the protected bike lanes for East Harlem and the Upper East Side came last October, when crews installed the bike lane and pedestrian refuges on Second Avenue between 100th Street and 125th Street. Last year also saw the construction of a protected bike lane on First Avenue between the Queensboro Bridge and 72nd Street. Now, long-time reader Jacob sends in photos of the latest extension on First Avenue, which will stretch up to 125th Street.

A protected bike lane on the Pulaski Bridge -- calming traffic heading to McGuinness Boulevard and providing much more breathing room than the bridge's narrow bike/ped path alone -- has cleared a significant planning hurdle. In a letter to Assembly Member Joe Lentol [PDF], DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said that the proposal meets traffic analysis requirements, and that an engineering study and recommendations will be made by the end of the year:

Bergen Street near Flatbush Avenue used to be a trouble spot for cyclists going from Prospect Heights to Park Slope, with one segment of the bike lane frequently obstructed by police vehicles. Last summer, a guerrilla protected lane appeared, buffered by orange cones, then disappeared, then reappeared, incredibly, in the form of metal crowd control barriers from the NYPD's 78th Precinct. The barriers have stood in place for over five months. Now, cyclists are thanking the precinct for taking action.

Christine Bush, editor of the neighborhood blog South Slope News, writes in with this question about when painted bike lanes and alternate side parking collide: