Bicycle Infrastructure
Streetsblog Basics
With 8 Percent Bump in 2011, NYC Bike Count Has Doubled Since 2007
The New York City Department of Transportation recorded an eight percent increase in the number of people biking into Manhattan below 50th street this year. The bike count has now doubled since 2007, when the city's first on-street protected bike lane was installed on Ninth Avenue.
December 8, 2011
Has DOT Decided Against Designing a Safer Delancey Street? [Updated]
Three concrete walls will soon surround the Manhattan entrance to the Williamsburg Bridge, as reported in Gothamist and the Villager. The construction, already underway and due to be completed at the beginning of next year, is part of a Department of Transportation effort to force cyclists coming down the ramp from the bridge to slow down and choose to ride on quieter side roads rather than dangerous Delancey Street, which will remain unchanged.
September 6, 2011
Breathtaking Bike Infrastructure: Minneapolis’s Martin Olav Sabo Bridge
In 2007, in order to route cyclists away from a challenging 7-lane crossing on busy Hiawatha Avenue, Minneapolis built the Martin Olav Sabo Bridge.
August 11, 2011
Bike League: “Eligibility” for Bike-Ped Isn’t the Same As “Dedicated Funding”
At this point, we’re not expecting any movement on a transportation bill, in either house, before the August recess. (After that, get ready for a panicked frenzy of activity ahead of the September 30 deadline.)
July 27, 2011
Hunter Planners: Expand the Bike Program, Beat the Bikelash
DOT needs to accelerate the build-out of the city's bike network in working-class neighborhoods outside the center city, say graduate students in the Hunter College urban planning department. They argue that expanding the geographic focus of the bike program would not only improve access to safe cycling for underserved neighborhoods, it might just help overcome the current backlash as well.
May 16, 2011
Senate Finalizing Transpo Bill — It’s Up to Boxer to Preserve Bike/Ped Funding
According to Congressional insiders, members of the Senate's Committee on Environment and Public Works are meeting today and tomorrow to hash out the details of their proposal for a multi-year transportation reauthorization bill. Hanging in the balance of these negotiations may be the federal government's only programs dedicated to funding infrastructure for biking and walking.
May 12, 2011
Research Bolsters Case for Cycle Tracks While AASHTO Updates Guide
For decades, dueling camps of cycling advocates have feuded about how to best accommodate riders. Some have pushed for the construction of Dutch-style cycle tracks, arguing that separated lanes make bicycling safer and less intimidating, while others have insisted such infrastructure isolates riders and makes cycling more dangerous than simply remaining within the flow of traffic.
April 27, 2011
Eyes on the Street: The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge Bike Approach
Clarence sends along a few more shots from the beginning of construction season. These come from Queens Plaza, where the two-way bike approach to the Queensboro Bridge is extending eastward.
April 20, 2011
Grand Army Plaza Redesign Moves Forward Without Plaza Street Bike Lane
Construction on a slate of pedestrian and bike improvements for Grand Army Plaza is scheduled to move forward this summer, NYC DOT announced this Saturday. The redesign includes a major expansion of the pedestrian islands at the north side of GAP and the addition of a two-way, protected bicycle connection linking Union Street to Eastern Parkway on the southern side. It does not include the two-way, protected bike lane on Plaza Street shown in DOT's 2010 presentation on this same project, which Community Boards 6 and 8 both approved last year.
April 18, 2011