By West Side Rag
Upper West Siders who frequent Central Park are well aware that the Drives within the Manhattan green space — the six miles of road that loop around the park — are hotly contested routes.
Pedestrians, cyclists, electric bikes and scooters, tourists, pedicabs, and horse-drawn carriages all compete to use the road, at varying times and speeds.
On Tuesday, the Central Park Conservancy released a yearlong study that outlines dozens of proposed changes that it contends would make the Drives safer, including the removal of the traffic lights, new protected bike lanes, raised pedestrian paths, grooved strips to prevents cyclists from drifting out of their lanes, and more.
Much of the proposed redesign is centered around the idea that the Central Park Drives, built in the mid-1880s, were originally designed for horse-drawn carriages, and purposefully made to be “windy” to encourage scenic viewing and discourage speeding, according to the Conservancy. Frederick Law Olmsted, co-designer of the park and a true visionary, said at the time of their creation, “There should be a separation of ways…for efficiency and amenity of movement, and to avoid collision or the apprehension of collision, between different kinds of traffic.”
The Drives were paved in 1912, and traffic lights for cars were added in 1932. In 2018, however, private cars were banned from the park, and, now, the Conservancy says, the infrastructure must be reconfigured for its current two most frequent users — pedestrians and cyclists.
The Conservancy outlined five key challenges it looked to address in the study: competing speeds sharing the same space; conflicts at crosswalks; traffic signal noncompliance, outdated design, and insufficient cross-park connections.
In terms of safety, there were 522 total collisions in Central Park from 2018 to 2022, according to the Conservancy. Of those, 472 resulted in injuries and one resulted in a death.
“Reported crashed may not fully reflect the chaotic or unsafe feel of the busier sections of the Drive, nor the more minor collisions that regularly occur,” the Conservancy acknowledged, in an introduction to the study.
Here are the recommendations that the Conservancy set forth to make the Drives safer.
Near-Term Recommendations
- Allocate space consistently across the Drives and pilot the use of new colors and textures on the roadbed.
- Better separate pedestrians from cyclists and other higher-speed users.
- Undertake an analysis of every crosswalk in the Park, with an eye toward better protecting pedestrians.
- Guide pedestrians to the historic archways to reduce conflicts on the Drives.
- Increase educational outreach and targeted enforcement to promote safety.
- Collaborate with City agencies to improve bike infrastructure on all streets surrounding the Park.
Medium-Term Recommendations
- Remove existing vehicular traffic signals and replace them with signals designed for bikers and pedestrians.
- Continue the collaboration with City agencies to further expand and improve bicycle infrastructure, including a designated bike lane on the east side of the Park.
- Explore a robust bike lane capital improvement on the 86th Street transverse and examine the feasibility of bike lanes for other transverses.
- Prioritize an in-Park bike lane along the 86th Street bridle path.
- Look into extending the pedestrian-path network running parallel to the Drives to reduce crowding and conflicts in the busiest areas.
- Create tailored redesigns for specific areas where user conflicts frequently occur.
- Form a Pedicab Reform Working Group to improve their operations.
Longer-Term Recommendations
- Explore a raised pedestrian lane at the southern, most crowded section of the Park.
- Explore geometric changes at key locations along the Drives.
The Central Park Conservancy conducted the study in collaboration with the New York City Parks Department and Department of Transportation, which are the two agencies the Conservancy must work with to turn these recommendations into reality.
Here are a collection of renderings that show some of the proposed changes.
You can check out the full study for yourself — HERE.
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“Add a protected bike lane on the 86th Street Transverse, ” <– It's all exciting (and overdue), but this one is particularly exciting to me.
I look forward to the years of debate about the proper use of the park starting in 3…2…1….
What will prevent pedestrians from walking in the protected bike lane? The rendering doesn’t indicate there will be a dedicated pedestrian walkway across the transverse.
It’s dangerous to walk along the transverse and there are several parallel paths within the park. Pedestrian traffic should go through the park instead. I mostly see confused tourists walking on the transverse because they didn’t realize it was a bad place to walk. A sign at the entrance to the protected bike lane should help to divert people.
It’s not a very pleasant place to walk compared to just walking through the actual park. Bikers whizzing by yelling at them will probably do the trick.
That’s not a realistic expectation. It takes only a handful of pedestrians to gunk up the proposed bike lanes. Just look at how the Hudson River Bike lanes function for confirmation.
I take the 86th Street traverse fairly regularly and I do not see how it is wide enough to add formal bike lanes in addition to the two lanes of traffic. I routinely see cars and buses have to dangerously veer to the middle to avoid bikers. The bikers know that the drivers don’t want to hit them so often selfishly ride in the middle, holding up many others (usually those taking public transportation).
I like to ride a bike. I think bikers should have rights. But I think that we have gone too far in the direction of helping the bikers. I think the average recreational biker going at a moderate speed is great. But unfortunately, three groups have ruined it: 1) Tourist CitiBikers who are completely oblivious, 2) Speed racers trying to hit new world records with a sense of entitlement, and 3) delivery riders who go too fast, run lights, go the wrong way on one-ways, etc.
You’re not looking at the rendering, Leon. The bike lane would take the place of the sidewalks. The sidewalks are very underused by pedestrians (and walking through the park at 86th is just as quick and is much lovelier).
no. people ride in the middle because the edges of the road is unpaved with holes and garbage and much more dangerous to ride in.
The only logical solution is to remove private vehicles from crossing here and reserve this traverse for buses and micromobility. Heck, even enlarge the pedestrian walk to encourage easier cross-park walking.
As a cyclist who has given up on using Central Park during daylight hours due to the crush of runners who weave in and out of the bike lane and the pleasure cyclists who appear uninformed of the rules of the road, I would suggest bringing TARGETTED EDUCATION to those users. When people go to rent bikes, they should be VERBALLY instructed of the rules. CiTIBike should make sure users are informed before their bike rentals are authorized. Running clubs and event organizers should make sure their members understand and obey them, too.
There are painted bike paths on the bike lanes portion of the road, indicating left-most portion of the lane for slower traffic and people riding side by side, with right-most portion for single, faster riders. Most people do not seem to notice, understand or follow these directions. I know I didn’t when I first rode a CITIBike in Central Park and was yelled at by a fast-moving cyclist. At the time, I was just angry but once I understood the message and the safety importance, I complied.
Some runners seem to think that because they don’t see anyone in the bike lane RIGHT NOW, while they are all bunched up in the runners’ lane, that it’s ok to weave into the bike lane to pass slower runners, or just get a nice airy path to themselves. But when they break into the slower bike lane, that causes the cyclist coming up to swerve into the faster lane to the right and that could cause a serious accident, as faster cyclists will come up fast and not be anticipating someone suddenly in their way where they don’t belong.
As for pedestrians complaining about cyclists blowing through traffic lights, I know there are those who present a danger but also pedestrians must be educated in LOOKING both ways and making sure it’s safe! As a cyclist, I’ve found the greatest danger by far is pedestrians not looking before entering the streets in general. Also, don’t place a traffic light near the top of a steep hill so that cyclists can’t get going again easily! There’s one of those lights on the west side @ 80th St.
There’s nothing wrong with a runner briefly dipping into the bike lane to pass someone as long as they check to make sure no one is immediately biking at them. The pedestrian/ running path is quite narrow in many places, barely enough room for two people side by side, while the bike lanes are large enough for two rows of cars. Bikers should give the pedestrian lane some space. There is no excuse to be biking near the line. I’ve even seen cyclists dip into the pedestrian lane to pass other cyclists! Inexcusable.
Good luck with your suggested education plan; no one is naive enough to believe that is a practical solution. No amount of education regarding the cycling laws and best cycling practices will change anything when people don’t care about their personal responsibilities.
While pedestrians are also complicit in creating dangerous situations re: their interaction with other users of the park, it’s pretty obvious that bicycles are the primary problem that will not go away. Maybe the paved roadways need to be returned to an unpaved, but hardened, state that can be walked and cycled on but is not attractive to fast-moving bicycles.
I run, walk and cycle and I can tell you there is no primary offender – all are guilty at some point. However the explosion of pedicabs blocking roads, tourists on bikes taking selfies and riding all over the place have made things much more dangerous – especially on the lower loop. I am really happy to see more paths for walkers – that’s another problem – people strolling and walking dogs in the runner lane – forces runners into bike lanes – more danger. People in general just need to stop being entitled and consider everyone else around them
It’s not going to happen…we don’t live in Mayberry. The only way to tame aggressive cyclists is to not have surfaces that are conducive to speed cycling. Unpaved hardened surfaces might attract more mountain bikers, but they don’t pose the same dangers as the racing enthusiasts.
I advocate for rumble strips at a major crossing intersections.
Raised crosswalks are the only way to make everyone (bikes, scooters, ebikes, pedicabs, even carriages) to slow down at the crosswalks
I don’t believe raised crosswalks are the ONLY way. Hyde Park in London has implemented rumble strips in certain parts of the park. Not saying it is the end all be all, but I believe rumble strips are a good start. Similar to how certain streets in the city have installed speed bumps.
These changes look great, I especially like the raised crosswalks so that cyclists slow down – can we please get these on Columbus and Amsterdam??
Protected bike lanes on the 86th traverse will also help move some bike traffic that is just trying to get to the east side (and vice versa).
As someone who walks to work through the park daily, I would wholeheartedly welcome our new crossing-guard overlords.
Ugh, Taking away more traffic lanes to slow traffic down even further.
Cars have been banned from Central Park since 2018 LMAO
I wholeheartedly support these changes. Central Park has been car-free for six years and we are finally changing the drives to reflect the reality.
We banned most cars in Central Park for a reason only to replace them with bikes that cause the same dangers.
This all looks good. BUT most of the recommendations are just “analysis,” “exploration,” or future “collaborations.” Very little seems to be ready to be implemented any time soon, I guess because the DOT is involved and NOTHING in this city gets done quickly or easily.
Of the six near-term recommendations, the only concrete action is “pilot the use of new colors and textures on the roadbed” and even that is just a “pilot.”
So I’m not expecting changes soon. It will be a miracle if they even get the roadbed divisions properly painted, let alone rumble-stripped. Swap out the traffic lights for new pedestrian-oriented ones? Add bike lanes to the transverses? I’m not holding my breath. But I appreciate the Conservancy’s efforts.
No bike lane for the transverse.
People can use the crosstown bus.
This is like saying, why let people walk? They should take the bus!
Bikers choose to bike. It is an efficient way to get where you’re going, it produces no emissions (at least, the thousands of pedal bikes don’t), and the only problem with it is an infrastructure which makes it unsafe for bikers. By the way, your bus would be far more crowded with the bicyclists on it.
Doesn’t this just get bikers out of the bus lanes and therefore speed up the buses? Struggling to understand the case against this.
You can have bike racks mounted on the buses. The Bx23 and Q50 do that for cyclists to cross the Whitestone Bridge and it works.
“Remove existing vehicular traffic signals and replace them with signals designed for bikers and pedestrians”
Signals are only useful if people follow them. Bikes don’t stop for red lights today, what would make them more likely to stop for the signals designated fir bikers?
Now someone will say the same about pedestrians. Of course we just legalized jaywalking so…..
“Signals designed for bikers???” In 55 years on the UWS and Central Park I have seldom seen a biker obey any signal or sign.
This redesign is horrific! It is agesist and ableist. And …How dare there even be a suggestion that PEDESTRIANS enter park over archways and bridges! They are prioritizing e bikes over pedestrians. Read the study. It is completely disrespectful to victims of e bike violence and antithetical to the Central Park Mission Statement. CPC “ met with 40 groups to discuss”? They never met with e bike victims. Shame!
Stop with the idealistic AI designs! E bikes will
Still ride all over pedestrian pathways no matter how the park is redesigned.
Central Park Conservancy is NOT listening to the majority of park go-ers but instead to special interest bike lobby. How hypocritical! They finally got rid of cars in Central Park and want a freeway fir e bikes
NO. We want e bikes OUT of all NYC Parks. Support Intro 0060-2024 prohibiting e vehicles from our ONLY oasis left to escape MOTORS.
Do not let Central Park Conservancy funds pay gor a e vehicle highway in Central Park.
Thank you
I read the study (thanks WSR for linking to it!) and what I read was thoughtful and balanced. Grated, they take e-bikes as a user group just like regular bikes, joggers and pedestrians. They treat all major user groups equally. Isn’t that what they are supposed to do?
Typical hysteria from the EVSA crowd…. this is not a fundamental change to the park’s pathways, nor does it create an eBike highway
I think the idea is to get e-bike deliveristas on cross town roads with bike lane – that’s where most are coming from – 72 cross town transverse – quite dangerous early evening in particular.
Absolutely. This plan is a disgrace and made for special interests, not the people of New York.
This recommendation is fabulous. In February 2020, in the wake of the tragic death of Dr. Daniel Cammerman, a beloved pediatrician who was killed while cycling on the 96th Street Transverse, CB7 unanimously requested that the Conservancy, together with DOT and the NYPD Central Park Precinct, take steps to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians in Central Park. (See Page 7 https://www.nyc.gov/assets/manhattancb7/downloads/pdf/resolutions/2020/reso02_20.pdf )
It is great to see things moving forward — let’s hope this plan is implemented quickly before any other tragedies.
I’m all for “improving safety for cyclists and pedestrians.” Unfortunately, plans for improving life for cyclists often seem to disadvantage pedestrians.
With respect.
I am sorry for the loss of Dr. Cammerman.
However, there are crosstown buses – core MTA transit – which should be utilized.
The transverses are for buses and other vehicles.
In fact buses should always be the priority.
Read the plan. (Or just the article, for that matter.) Nothing in it proposes taking anything away from buses in favor of bikes. Nothing.
there would be no loss for bus riders. The proposed lane would take the place of the underused sidewalk on the transverse.
This plan is pure 1984. Marginalize pedestrians to protect them.. regulate cyclists by giving the more free dome to use Central Park like Daytona.
I have a full critique of this ludicrous plan on my blog, linked below. There is zero consideration here for seniors or the disabled. The entire report is centered around making everything more convenient to the fast and dangerous e-bikes that are only allowed in the Park because of a year and a half old “pilot” program. E-Bikes should not be in the parks- period! This is our “oasis”, our “respite.” from the rough and tumble city streets. The suggestion that pedestrians should be directed to the historic archways to safely avoid the high speed bike lane is nuts! There is one archway between 72nd and 104th on the East Side. Why are the 112,000 pedestrians that use the park daily vs the 3230 that ride a bike/e-bike/scooter? Is a senior supposed to go a mile out of there way so a scooter can speed at 30moh up the East Drive? The special interests control this town!
Here is my full critique: https://afinecompany.blogspot.com/2024/11/parks-conservancy-in-betrayal-to.html
I agree with everything that Janet Greer stated. There should not be any e-bikes in the park!
Parks are for enjoying nature. E-bikes have no place in a space that is designed for rest, relaxation, and peace. Case closed!!!!
Bicyclists – especially Citibikers – behave badly.. They go through red lights, go the wrong way, ignore bike lanes.
And then bicyclists get rewarded with more infrastructure.
Bus riders get less and less – fewer buses, routes cut, more detours due to open streets and various events.
And then even worse – adding a structure for bikes in the transverse.
No bikes in the transverses!
Enabling bikes in the transverse will unleash more bicyclists behaving badly.
Raised crosswalks are such a great idea. They really should be implemented throughout the city. Although given the corruption and grift, it would probably cost billions of dollars.
The Orwellian alternate universe is baaaack! We are awash in Newspeak and Doublethink.
The collaboration-as it were-of the Central Park Conservancy with Sam Schwartz & his “report” needs to be seen in a more candid context! He’s the beneficiary of millions of dollars of contracts from both government and private entities, and is a man who is enabled by self-dealing interests to promote his cult-like hatred of cars.
But back to the real world.
-We pedestrians breath a sigh of relief when we’re able to arrive at our destination without being hit by a sidewalk e-bike…or red light flouting Deliverista…normally it would also include …wait for it…being in A PARK!
-The DOT has become a de facto arm of the biker bro cult…i.e. Transportation Alternatives-and they have become champions of the hecklers’ veto -excoriating any who doesn’t comport with their hostage taking of public streets and sidewalks.
– The APP invasion-whether speeding, lawbreaking food delivery Deliveristas or bike-share CitiBike/LYFT e-bike rentals has been allowed to influence NYC/NYS legislators -as their political shelf life expires not a moment too soon.
-NYers used to be able to count on parks as a public respite. Parks, where one could hope to heal from urban onslaught…from scofflaw bikers, yes from cars, from noise and to get a peek at the sunshine which pervasive soulless towers have removed from any pretext of a human scale, livable city.
BAN E-BIKES IN PARKS…LICENSE THEM…and VOTE OUT ANYONE ENABLING BIKE (as well as Car!) HARM TO PEDESTRIANS AS THE CURRENT ELECTED BUNCH SEEMS TO BE DOING!
What a disaster this is for pedestrians, so many of whom are seniors. E-bikes rule when they should be banned. No more traffic lights because nobody obeys them? That’s the logic of might is right. How about enforcement of right of way? Pedestrians pay taxes, too.
I don’t see anything here about the Bikes, Ebikes, and Full Motorcycles which ride rampant and on the pedestrian pathways and the bridal path.
Seems like making rules on the drive will only entice the lawless to move all the more to the footpaths where enforcement is non-existant.
And you get abused by the bikers riding on the footpaths when you call them out. I had a bicyclist who was riding on the sidewalk ride circles around me and taunt me. I wish I were kidding.
I was hit by a tourist on a citibike, right on one of the footpaths. It is the wild west.
Not a fan of bikes or bike lanes in general but it makes some sense in the transverse, just to get them out of the middle of the street where they currently like to ride.
I cross the west drive at 69th street (a very busy pedestrian crossing) at least twice daily. I’d be happy to wait for the light to change in order to proceed but since no two-wheeled rider ever stops for the existing stoplights, I have to make a judgement call about when to cross. Until they build a bridge over the drive I don’t see how any redesign is going to fix this unless there is a dedicated traffic person stopping bikes occasionally for people to cross which also will probably never happen.
But, why is there no enforcement? We have an entire traffic department that issues parking tickets. Isn’t this in their purview?
Nothing works with our enforcement of the rules, and that doesn’t exist any more.
I would be so grateful if there were any enforcement of existing rules. This year I’ve seen an increase in people actively riding their ebikes through the Loch Trails (the narrow trails that wind around the waterfalls and stream east of The Pool). I’m sad that once the swimming pool is finished next year, that will get much worse. A big point of the swimming pool’s design is to ‘connect‘ CPN to the rest of the park, through the Loch Trails. People will just shortcut through on their bikes and no park staff will care. This may have been our last year of those trails being at all quiet/peaceful, which would hurt a lot.
This new plan for Central Park is misguided. We should ban ALL e vehicles and pedicabs from the park. They are dangerous to pedestrians. The park is supposed to be a sanctuary for all New Yorkers. I feel as if the Conservancy has placed riders over walkers. This is not fair. Getting rid of the traffic lights is also a bad idea. What we need is enforcement if the law when riders go through a red light.
Please everyone- read the entire study. We finally banned cars only to have Sam Schwartz ( a bike lobby supporter) get paid one million dollars to design Central Park AROUND micromobility. He has now created a Door Dash HIGHWAY on the loop. Dont fall for this- please! Join nycevsa.org. We will get 0060-2024 passed and e bikes banned from the ONLY place we have left to escape MOTORS!
Seniors/Disabled/Dogs and their walkers/runners/cyclists will ge greatly and negatively impacted by this design by a guy who is anti any e bike regulation.
Central Park Conservancy and Schwartz didnt meet with victims of e bike crashes or consider them at ALL. Is CPC TRYING to lose supporters? This design is an overall disaster l I promise you- it is a redesign around micromobility transportation! Our parks are NOT for transportation. They are for recreation and relaxation.
E bikes are NOT bicycles. They weigh 60-70lbs, go much faster, brake more slowly. No redesign will stop speeding e bikes. No redesign will stop them from crossing pedestrian pathways! Stop this madness! Ban e vehicles ( motors) from park and, yes, let them cross 86th transverse. 0606-2024 has been co-sponsored by 20 council members with many more coming!
This plan, as usual with the DOT and Conservancy, is rife with skewed stats, misinformation and discrimination with regard to the elderly, the disabled, The park is not safe, even for pedestrians and regular cyclists, as the evehicle push for profit of a few has taken over – unregulated. This newspaper has reported on this before, why is there n no progress towards sanity and safety? What or who is responsible for the fascist connection between the two? Silencing voices and pushing plans through. Sounds corrupt to me! Leaders of the CPC get millions!!! Fo what? To NOT LISTEN TO NYERS? It’s corrupt. As a victim of evehicle violence, this entire plan, its bogus research, the redesign head (TA sympathizer and also paid millions – why are my tax dollars going toward this horridic effort) SUCKS!
I don’t understand why they’re not enlarging the running lane on the drive. That lane is always clogged, while cyclists get over twice as much space and use it far less. Even at its busiest, the bikes have plenty of space, while runners and walkers are forced to jostle around each other or step into the bike lane to pass. Look how many people run in New York! The running lane shouldn’t be an afterthought.
I think the protected bike lane for the transverse is a great idea. There’s no reason to be walking on the transverse–it’s unsafe and polluted. Cyclists use it but it’s also unsafe for them–there’s no room for cars to avoid an accident if a cyclist were to slip. A protected bike lane will save lives. Pedestrians can easily walk across the bridle path, reservoir, or Great Lawn, which are safe and beautiful routes.
Runner here. Most of the congestion is walkers who should be on the sidewalk
How about we set a speed limit and doll out hefty fines to all the cycling enthusiasts who appear to be training for the Tour de France?
We want E-Vehicles out of all NYC parks. People we need to support Intro 0060-2024 which prohibits E-Vehicles from what used to be an oasis and has become another dangerous place.
Horse carriages . Their time dominating much of the road in Central Park should end. This tourism-driven-nostalgia-propaganda- machine clogs the roads, decreasing safety for pedestrians and cyclists, alike. And just as relevant, more than 70 percent of New Yorkers polled want to see it gone for its inherent cruelty. Take our park back from this power grab by the Transport Workers Union and its enablers in the NYC Council.
For me it’s the pedicabs I want gone. Dangerous road blocking and scamming tourists
None of this matters if it’s not ONE WAY.