Manhattan

Six years ago, when Summer Streets was introduced, the New York Times asked: Will it work? This year, the question is: Why isn't the city doing more of it?

The speed limit will be lowered to 25 miles per hour on eight miles of upper Broadway this summer, DOT announced today.

The Vision Zero town hall roadshow returned to Manhattan last night with a well-attended forum at John Jay College. Elected officials, agency representatives and the public gathered to discuss the city's plan to eliminate traffic fatalities and to offer suggestions for the initiative. Like last week's forum in Astoria, some new details came out over the course of the evening about the city's next steps for Vision Zero -- including hints from NYPD about opening more data to the public. Another highlight: Livery drivers offered their own suggestions to stop the carnage on city streets.

After a unanimous vote at its transportation committee earlier this month, Manhattan Community Board 2's full board last night unanimously passed a resolution supporting an upgrade of the buffered bike lane on Lafayette Street and Fourth Avenue to a protected bike lane. The project [PDF] runs from Spring Street to 14th Street and will include a northbound protected bike lane from Prince Street to 12th Street, pedestrian islands, and narrower car lanes to slow drivers.

NYC DOT's proposal to upgrade the northbound buffered bike lane on Lafayette Street and Fourth Avenue to a protected lane is up for a vote at Community Board 2 tonight, and while the plan sailed through the board's transportation committee earlier this month, a "Yes" vote is far from a sure thing. Redesign opponents who didn't show up at the committee meeting are expected to make an appearance at the full board vote, and that could jeopardize the project.

In a unanimous 9-0 vote last night, Manhattan Community Board 2's transportation committee endorsed a DOT plan to upgrade a buffered bike lane on Lafayette Street and Fourth Avenue to a parking-protected lane, complete with new pedestrian islands, car lanes of an appropriate width for the city, and improved signal timing for pedestrians. The plan now moves to CB 2's full board meeting on March 20.

At the first of what is sure to be many forums on Mayor Bill de Blasio's Vision Zero agenda, nearly 100 residents, advocates, city officials and elected representatives gathered in Manhattan last night to talk about what implementing the Vision Zero Action Plan will look like, including immediate actions from the city and longer-term efforts at the state level.

Bicycling in Manhattan has long been a male-dominated mode of transportation, but a new study says bike-share is helping improve the gender balance in the borough's bike lanes. Another change since the blue bikes hit the streets last summer: Manhattan bike riders are far more likely to follow the rules of the road.