New York City Building Great Streets

9th Avenue's bike lane has now won an award and they're going to expand it and build a complimentary one on 8th

DOT's 9th Avenue bike lane continues to delight New York City's cyclists, and now it's also attracting attention from leading engineers around the world. This August the design will be awarded the Institute for Transportation Engineers' Transportation Planning Council's Best Program award at ITE's Annual Meeting in Anaheim, CA. The 9th Avenue facility solved the tricky issue of how to design intersections of the protected bike path and cross-streets, to ensure that cyclists and motorists could see each other and left-turning vehicles did not endanger cyclists who were continuing straight ahead. NYCDOT addressed these issues by providing special signals for cyclists and left-turn bays for drivers with a separate signal phase, allowing them to cross the path when cyclists are stopped.

The 9th Avenue lane is such a hit we're already working to expand it. This fall the lane will be extended from 23rd Street to 31st Street and will be partnered with a sister lane on 8th Avenue from Bank Street to 23rd Street.

Read more about both projects here:

9th Avenue Bicycle Facility and Complete Street Extension, Manhattan (October 2008)
8th Avenue Complete Street Redesign, Manhattan (November 2008)

They're putting Broadway Boulevard on a road diet, and putting a cycle track on Grand Street

Grand Street is narrower than Ninth Avenue, where the existing protected path runs. Whereas the Ninth Avenue cycle track uses signal timing to prevent conflicts between bikes and turning vehicles, the Grand Street plan uses what DOT is calling a "mixing zone," a space shared by cyclists and drivers at the approach to an intersection (shown above).

Hat Helmet tip to GGW.

And as mentioned before here, they're doing Ciclovias - or Summer Streets as they've called it. It seems like a success

Motorless traffic was up exponentially over most Saturdays, with thousands taking to the wide-open streets on bicycles and in-line skates and in running shoes.

Though local businesses complained

At T. Anthony Ltd., a luggage store on Park Avenue where an alligator duffle bag sells for $10,000, sales decreased as much as 35 percent during Summer Streets, said Jack D. Weiss, the store’s retail director, putting a crimp on what is normally its busiest day of the week.

“Maybe if you’re a biker or a hiker or a runner, you like this,” Mr. Weiss said. “But from the point of view of a retailer, especially in this economy, to have any kind of an impediment is very detrimental.”

so far, officials say, complaints like Mr. Weiss’s are the exception.

Perhaps businesses like Borders, which saw an uptick in sales, would be willing to send some money to those businesses hurt by the program.

Comments

[Chris]

Shouldn't that be "helmet tip"? :)

[washcycle]

Indeed. I like that.

[ohmypolarbear]

Adding to the last point - it sounds like the people who buy $10K luggage are the ones who saw the closed streets as an impediment to their Hummers, while the people who read books saw the closed streets as an invitation to their bikes and sneakers. Maybe T. Anthony Ltd. should stock diamond-encrusted bike panniers...