Lower East Side

The reconstruction of East Houston Street will include wider medians, bigger sidewalks, fewer traffic lanes, and a new bike lane. But instead of installing a physically protected path for cyclists, the city plans to paint a buffered, Class 2 lane. The project, which received funds freed up by stimulus spending, will go out to bid this summer.

A reader sends this note about today's commute:

Reader Tim Koelle sends this report of a busted traffic signal gone terribly right at the intersection of West Broadway and Grand yesterday morning:

Apologies for the last-minute heads up, but livable streets supporters in Chinatown and the Lower East Side won't want to miss this action at Community Board 3 tonight. A DOT project to expand pedestrian space and add center median protected bike paths to the Allen and Pike Street malls will be on the table at a meeting of the transportation committee. The plan also calls for new pedestrian plazas connecting the malls at six intersections, per DOT:

In 2006, Alan Gerson helmeted-up and rallied for a protected bike lane on Houston St.

More grim news today: Gothamist and Fox 5 are reporting that a man was killed when he was struck by a big rig on Bowery and Grand. The truck driver continued over the Manhattan Bridge and was stopped by police on the BQE, according to Gothamist.

This evening, Adopt-a-Bike-Lane and Transportation Alternatives will launch a campaign for a protected bike lane on Delancey Street by leading escorted "bike commuter pools" across the Williamsburg Bridge. Reads a TA press release:

Redesigns of Chrystie and Forsyth Streets have started to materialize, giving cyclists and pedestrians a glimpse of changes to come. New bicycle lanes on Chrystie Street may be the most widely anticipated aspect of DOT's planned changes to the Manhattan Bridge access area, but they are only part of a broader effort to calm traffic and increase pedestrian safety on the Lower East Side.

Residents of the Lower East Side and Chinatown have been fighting for improvements to the Allen and Pike Street pedestrian malls for more than a decade. Now, with the city's Parks Department set to begin a $5.4 million renovation of the malls below East Broadway, their wait for meaningful action might be nearing an end.