The protected bike lanes on Columbus Avenue from 96th to 77th Streets start and end nowhere. They don’t link up with other north-south bike paths, so people riding on them need to rejoin car traffic at either end.
Bicycling activists are pissed off about this — they think the local community board, which has been divided on the lanes, should have already asked the city to add new lanes. And they said so at a heated Community Board 7 committee meeting last week.
Initial data has shown some safety improvements on Columbus, but the lanes aren’t universally loved and appreciated. It also wasn’t clear if they were being used very much, at least initially. Some pedestrians think bicyclists put them in danger, particularly when they don’t follow the traffic laws. Also, when the city Transportation Department first put the Columbus Avenue lanes in, business owners said they didn’t respond to their concerns about the lanes. A committee of local leaders spent months going business to business smoothing things over. The DOT also took away more parking spaces than they had said they would at a public hearing. It’s no wonder then that locals are wary about adding more lanes.
That said, maybe we’ve learned our lessons? Maybe we’re ready to embrace the future?
“I think the board is realizing that they need to be more proactive in their decision making when it comes to the streets. So, yes, I think they are going to have to be more receptive to the lanes,” biking advocate Lisa Sladkus wrote to us.
The lanes have definitely made many bicyclists more comfortable riding on the street. And a bike-friendly city is safer, more eco-friendly, healthier, maybe even happier, right?
“I am in rough water, with sharks” when biking in the street with cars, said Detta Ahl, a resident who spoke at a preliminary meeting about the lanes last week. “When I’m in the protected bike lane, I am in a pool, with a lane line, and a lifeguard.”
There are some big obstacles to moving ahead with lanes stretching all the way from 59th to 110th Streets on Amsterdam and Columbus. The Lincoln Square Business Improvement District has been hesitant to add lanes in the Lincoln Square area, which could be a significant obstacle — the lanes will have to run through the 60’s to meet up with midtown bike lanes. And the DOT initially shied away from putting lanes on Amsterdam Avenue, where the streets are narrower than Columbus, meaning the city would have to eliminate a full driving lane to put in a parking lane (the Columbus bike lanes didn’t eliminate any driving lanes, they just made the existing lanes narrower).
Bike lanes will be on the agenda at November’s full community board meeting. The DOT is unlikely to move ahead without the community board’s approval.
For more on last week’s meeting, read a preview from Transportation Nation, and dispatches from the Columbia Spectator, DNAinfo, and Streetsblog.
And let us know your feelings in the comments. We’ve also reposted our previous poll about Amsterdam Avenue bike lanes below:
[poll id=”7″]
Photo by Avi.
Please, cyclists have to learn to follow the rules. More bike lanes while they continue to barrel through red lights and flaunt safety rules, no way.
Right, because the construction of sidewalks is always dependent on pedestrians not jaywalking. And the decision to construct more roads, with traffic lights, is predicated on drivers obeying traffic laws.
When was the last time a jaywalking pedestrian barreled into someone killing them? Cyclists are extremely dangerous and pedestrians are not. I am a cyclist, and I would like to see a more bike friendly culture. Ben’s comment reveals that there are unfortunately cyclists who believe they are entitled to threaten the physical safety of others since pedestrians get to WALK (posing no danger to anyone) through a red light when there is no traffic. Ben: You’re an idiot, and your argument is why pedestrians HATE cyclists. Way to go!
Wow, David, that’s a pretty simplistic reading of how pedestrians function in a context of interactive motility. When a pedestrian moves out into a bike lane from behind a parked car, or in any other similar instance where cars, bikes, and peds all share the potential to encroach on one another’s designated space – and remember, this requires that we ignore the fact that bicyclists often are not granted such a designated space – pedestrians are no less a lethal factor than bikes. Move beyond your infantile notion that just because someone walks, they pose no danger to anyone. Do I really have to point out that a person walking thoughtlessly is potentially lethal to herself, the bicyclist who has to swerve to avoid her, and the drivers on the street? If there HAS to be an idiot here, it’s clearly you.
More thought before more action. Example: Columbus Avenue, which used to be OK until you neared Lincoln Center, is now a mess south of 86th Street. Traffic is much slower (bigger carbon footprint) and if there’s a delivery truck parked outside the parking lane – which is not unusual – the situation is even worse. And Pedestrian is spot on about cyclists – red lights don’t exist for most of them. Perhaps, since the cyclists want so much to be a part of things, bikes should be registered. A modest fee – like $15 a year – and a decal (similar to the ones on dog licences should do the job). That way there would be an accountability that doesn’t exist now. Too many tickets, bye, bye bike for awhile.
Until bicycle riders are licensed to ride on NY City thoroughfares this is idiocy!
A Bike will hit a car or be hit by a car, and without insurance,
there is no JUSTICE whatsoever!
UNEQUAL LEGAL STATUS – leads to complete lawlessness!
I think all the bicycle lanes should be removed.
They have completely screwed all surface transportation routes in manhattan. bloomberg’s bike lanes are a hazard and extremely dangerous.
Instead, 5th ave should be a Bicycle thouroghfare in both directions..NO CARS, NO CARBON MONOXIDE.
If bicycle riders wanna have accidents, they can hit each other here…
The real purpose of the BIKE LANES is revealed during
the UNITED NATIONS week.
Did you know the police can commandeer the bike lane, and its designed to allow a patrol car to easily get through any crowded street?
I think the real purpose of such lanes is crowd control and police work – you’ll see…
Legislated rules have been put in place to protect all citizens. Many dilettante as well as expert bike riders are a hazard to pedestrians and themselves. They ride on sidewalks and crosswalks even though there are bike lanes. They ignore red lights and stop signs. Speed down streets and zoom between cars in traffic. Ride the wrong way on one way streets. Just building bike lanes everywhere is not the answer. Drivers of motor vehicles have to take a test and agree to abide by rules in order to use the streets. It is obvious we need the same for bicycle usage. Registration and licensing fees will help pay for the new lanes and signage required. Bicycle advocates must not keep insisting that regulations are inconvenient and shouldn’t apply to bicycles. Until then no new bike lanes.
enforcement, of all communters (cycling, vehicular, and ambulatory) is the key. police dont care though, that is obvious. One point, its not so clear cut the meek, weak little pedestrian. try avoiding one who steps out from in front of a parked car, into the middle of a bike lane, headphones on, looking at their phone.
Desperately need lanes on Amsterdam; anyone who votes no does not ride a bike and has no idea how dangerous it is.
Ever since I was introduced to these bike lanes in NYC, I’ve brought my bike for every visit. It’s a great way to see the city with less chance of getting hit by cars. I love it! And it means fewer cars in the streets. Win win.