Bike Lanes

At a meeting of the Community Board 6 transportation committee last night, NYC DOT presented a plan to add some protection for cyclists heading to and from the Queensboro Bridge in Manhattan [PDF]. The proposal would add a protected bike lane on First Avenue between 59th Street and 61st Street, including a two-way segment on one block that will divert southbound bike traffic away from a hectic block of Second Avenue. The project could be implemented as early as this summer.

Good news out of Brooklyn last night: After a community-driven process that started in 2011, Community Board 16 voted to support painted bike lanes and sharrows on 15 miles of Brownsville streets.

Tillary Street between Adams Street and Cadman Plaza East is a critical connection for cyclists from Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill and Red Hook to the Brooklyn Bridge, with a protected bike lane separating them from drivers on the extra-wide street.

Thanks to reader Peter Frishauf for passing on this 1973 constituent letter he received from Ed Koch, who represented New York's 18th Congressional District at the time. Forty years ago, Koch was putting out a more progressive message on bike policy than what we heard in 2011 from another U.S. Representative who had his eye on Gracie Mansion.

After deadlocking in December, Manhattan Commmunity Board 7's transportation committee voted 7-2, with one abstention, to support the extension of the Columbus Avenue protected bike lane before an overwhelmingly supportive crowd last night.

Tonight, Manhattan Community Board 7 will again consider a DOT proposal to extend the existing Columbus Avenue bike lane, a mile-long segment between 77th and 96th Streets that's currently isolated from the rest of the city's network. If the committee supports the lane tonight, the proposal would go before the full board in February in time to be installed this spring.

The transportation committee of Brooklyn Community Board 16 last night voted in favor of a plan to stripe Brownsville's first bike lanes, reports Nupur Chaudhury of the local non-profit Brownsville Partnership.

A go-to NIMBY argument against safe street improvements is that bike lanes, pedestrian plazas, and ped refuge islands interfere with emergency responders.

This morning, WNYC's Brian Lehrer discussed the Columbus Avenue bike lane with reporter Kate Hinds. The show covered a fair amount of ground in a short amount of time, but gave a lot of airtime to a key assumption which has given cover to street safety opponents -- that small retailers in New York City need to maintain as much on-street parking as possible -- and let it go unchallenged for much of the segment.