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Just a few months after a proposal seeking to turn the West Side Highway into a two-way bike lane was made public, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced its plans to install a parking-protected bike lane on almost 40 blocks of 10th Avenue, effectively turning the west side of town into a safer, more accessible area for cyclists.
If the DOT's proposal were to become reality, a total of four lanes would be repurposed, both between West 14th Street and West 23rd Street and between West 42nd Street and West 52nd Street. As for the 19 blocks between the two groupings, officials are hoping to still add a bike path by tightening the existing car lanes without actually removing them.
The plan would also include the installation of pedestrian islands at crosswalks, specifically targeting high-traffic areas, including at West 27th Street, West 41st Street and West 42nd Street.
According to Streets Blog, the DOT "aims to start work [on 10th Avenue] next spring and wrap up by the summer or the fall."
In addition to the would-be changes on Manhattan's West side, the DOT also announced a slew of other major projects that they are hoping to tackle in 2023, including bike and pedestrian access improvements at Washington Bridge, the installation of protected cycling areas on Westchester Avenue in the Bronx, a two-way bike boulevard upgrade on Berry Street in Brooklyn and similar improvements around Ashland/Navy/Hanson in the borough. Also on the roster: the development of a two-way bike boulevard, plazas and shared streets on Broadway between Madison Square and Herald Square. Exciting stuff ahead!
Given the cycling-related safety issues that the city is constantly contending with, we're excited about the possible improvements to the local infrastructure system. Here's to hoping they'll all actually come to fruition.