Bike Lanes

The NYC Department of Transportation is undertaking a feasibility study for constructing a protected bike lane on the Pulaski Bridge connecting Greenpoint and Long Island City, agency representatives said at a neighborhood transportation town hall on Monday night.

The guerrilla bike lane on Bergen Street now has an official imprimatur. It may be hard to believe, but the tug-of-war over whether bike riders or parked cars from the 78th Precinct belong in the Bergen Street bike lane -- tough one, isn't it? -- now has an unexpected referee. Over the weekend, NYPD barriers popped up on the edge of the bike lane where it approaches Flatbush Avenue, replicating a citizen-led effort that flourished for about a week this summer.

Hats off to Steve Fisher, Wayne Scott and others who took to the streets today to stop the removal of bike lanes in Toronto.

The protected bike and pedestrian space on Broadway between 42nd and 35th Streets will be redesigned in 2013 to give more space to pedestrians, removing a motor vehicle lane. The alterations will also change the bike lane from a protected route often used by pedestrians as a de facto sidewalk extension to a buffered lane between curbside parking and moving cars.

Streetfilms' Elizabeth Press was uptown today working on a piece about East Harlem's long-awaited protected bike lanes. She passes along this view of the almost-rideable green lane on Second Avenue. Waiting for paint to dry has never been so thrilling.

The East Village and Lower East Side have seen new bike infrastructure flourish in the past few years, and now have some of the best city bicycling infrastructure in the country, including what will soon be the nation’s longest protected bike lanes on First and Second Avenues, several on-street bike corrals, and, coming next spring, bike-share stations blanketing the neighborhood.

DOT's proposal for a bike lane on Bay Ridge Parkway, which would have preserved all travel lanes and parking, was scrapped after local politicians blasted the concept and Brooklyn Community Board 10 voted against it, 32-8, in May 2011. At the time, the future looked bleak for bike lanes in Bay Ridge.

The Mayor's Management Report, an annual summation of how well city agencies are doing their jobs, includes bad news for traffic safety and sustainable streets. In the last fiscal year, traffic fatalities were at their highest level since 2008, and NYPD moving violations summonses were at a 10-year low. Meanwhile, DOT missed its bike lane and bike rack goals for the year.

With the first phase of new bike lanes set to go before Community Board 2 this fall before being installed in the spring, DOT has a new survey asking western Queens cyclists where they'd like to see bike lanes come next.