Eyes on the Street

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

Clarence files these photos of a dual-purpose street reclamation in Queens.

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.

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.

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.