Astoria Cyclists Celebrate New Bike Lane Protections

ASTORIA, QUEENS — A pair of bike lanes in Astoria and Long Island City will be outfitted with cement barriers as part of a new safety push, making them among the first streets in the city to get the hardening treatment.

Long stretches of Crescent Street and Vernon Boulevard will receive the new barriers "early this year," as the city works to add 20 miles of concrete barriers by the end of 2023, the Department of Transportation announced Friday.

Both bike lanes are already considered "protected," since they are partially lined with plastic bollards. But cyclists have long complained that the flexible posts do little to deter drivers from double-parking or even driving through the bike lanes.

The section of Crescent Street getting the cement upgrade runs from Queens Plaza North to Hoyt Avenue North — a distance of about two miles.

Vernon Boulevard's upgraded stretch is also about two miles long, running from 46th Avenue in Hunters Point up to 30th Road near Halletts Point in Astoria.

The project brings Mayor Eric Adams's administration closer to achieving a lofty goal set by his Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, who pledged to upgrade half the city's protected bike lanes within his first 100 days — a deadline he appears unlikely to reach.

"New York City’s cyclists deserve to be safe everywhere, but especially in protected lanes – where drivers will too often disrespect and block that critical space,” Rodriguez aid in a statement. "We have an actionable, concrete plan to protect cyclists and we are going to deliver on this work to keep our lanes clear."

Meanwhile, a stretch of Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst is getting the same treatment, as will four streets in Manhattan. More locations in the Bronx and Brooklyn are under consideration, according to DOT.

Each of the bike lanes chosen for the first round of upgrades has either high ridership, a "history of vehicle non-compliance," or sit next to busy vehicle corridors, according to the city.

Others praising the upgrades include Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and a slew of cycling advocates — though some questioned the omission of Northern Boulevard, whose recently-completed bike lane has been criticized as lacking.

Still, Western Queens's cyclists seemed eager to take advantage of the new protections.

"Awesome, and this is coming from a car owner and cyclist," one Reddit user wrote after last week's announcement. "The bike infrastructure in this neighborhood is not great."