Eyes on the Street
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Eyes on the Street: Safety Upgrades Come to Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd.
Although the project covers only half to the distance initially proposed thanks to foot-dragging by the local community board (the other half may be implemented next year), safety enhancements along 19 blocks of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard are in place and giving pedestrians more room to cross the street. When complete, the boulevard between 134th and 153rd Streets will include left turn lanes, wider median pedestrian islands, and one less through lane in each direction. With current nighttime speeds averaging 50 mph, the road diet will have an impact on calming the avenue's deadly traffic.
August 20, 2012
Eyes on the Street: New and Improved Allen Street Bikeway and Plazas
The construction barriers are down and the tables and chairs are out on Allen Street in Chinatown. While there's still some planting and other work left to be done, the public spaces are already magnets for people. The median bikeway on the three-block stretch between Hester and Delancey is also open and rideable again.
August 8, 2012
Eyes on the Street: The Bus Bulb at the Nexus of the Universe
Thanks to @J_uptown for tipping us off to this transit enhancement in the making (and providing the Seinfeld-inspired headline). The fresh sidewalk addition here is a bus bulb for Select Bus Service on First Avenue. When it's in working order, bus drivers won't have to pull over to the curb to pick up and drop off riders, and passengers waiting for the bus won't have to share scarce sidewalk space with passersby. There are ten bus bulbs coming to the SBS route on First Avenue, and two slated for Second Avenue.
July 27, 2012
Eyes on the Street: Guerrilla Bike Lane Separation on Bergen Street
Streetsblog reader and former Manhattan Community Board 2 standout Ian Dutton has hit upon a low-cost way to keep the Bergen Street bike lane clear of NYPD squad cars. The short piece of Bergen between Sixth Avenue and Flatbush is routinely blocked by the 78th Precinct's vehicles, so Ian took advantage of some idle Con-Ed construction posts (they had been left by the curb during some utility work) to clearly mark off the bike lane. The markers went down on Monday and they kept the squad cars out at least until Wednesday evening. Today Ian reports that Con-Ed is using the cones to direct traffic away from a cut in the street, and the separation is gone -- for now.
July 19, 2012
Eyes on the Street: Lines Forming for Ninth Ave Protected Bike Lane
Construction on Midtown protected bike lanes continues apace. Reader Hilda Cohen sends in the above shot from Ninth Avenue, where she says "contractors are out marking lines between 47th and 39th."
July 11, 2012
Eyes on the Street: Runoff Retention? Sidewalk Extension!
Clarence files these photos of a dual-purpose street reclamation in Queens.
July 3, 2012
Eyes on the Street, Midtown Redux: Crosstown Bike Lane Meets 6 1/2 Avenue
More streetscape news from Midtown: In addition to the Eighth Avenue bike lane expansion and the installation of 6 1/2 Avenue, DOT is already at work on new crosstown lanes. Steve O., a.k.a. @eveostay, snapped this shot today at the brand new intersection of the E. 51st Street lane and 6 1/2 Ave.
July 2, 2012
Eyes on the Street: Bike-Ped Improvements on 6 1/2 and Eighth Avenues
Safer streets are taking shape in Midtown, with work underway to create new paths through the heart of the city for pedestrians and cyclists alike.
July 2, 2012
Braving Double-Parked Parents, MS 51 Students Bike to School in Droves
Based on this picture of rows of temporary bike racks, all filled, it looks like MS 51's Bike-To-School Day was a big hit (photo via Lara Lebeiko of Bicycle Habitat, which provided volunteers for the event). Escorted rides, or "bike buses," took students from Sunset Park, Carroll Gardens and Windsor Terrace/Kensington to the Park Slope school and back. During the day, a bike skills and safety course helped teach the students how to ride on their own.
May 23, 2012
Eyes on the Street: Eighth Avenue Protected Bike Lane Heads North
Reader Niles Ray sends in this bird's-eye view of bike lane construction on Eighth Avenue at 37th Street.
May 14, 2012