Bike Lane Plan For Bayside Rejected, Weeks After It Got Go-Ahead

BAYSIDE-DOUGLASTON, QUEENS – A new bike path for Bayside has been rejected by Community Board 11, even though the panel previously approved the proposal and preparations to build it have already started, according to QNS.com.

The plan calls for turning a lane inside Northern Boulevard from 223rd Street to Douglaston Parkway into a bike-only path.

While the board approved of the plan in June, it reportedly switched gears on Sept. 11, saying it wants to widen the sidewalk instead of removing a car lane.

QNS.com quoted board member Bernard Haber as saying the city Department of Transportation's plan put bikers at risk, especially near the on and off ramps for Douglaston Parkway.

Haber said his sidewalk widening suggestion would cost $600,000, though DOT officials said widening the sidewalk could actually cost up to $10 million.

“We have agreed to look at Mr. Haber’s plan,” Ted Wright, director of the DOT's bike program, was quoted as saying. “But the June proposal is already underway. Construction hasn’t started but we’re arranging work contracts and obtaining supplies.”

Lead image via Google Maps.