Midtown Bike Lanes Included In City's Next Open Streets Expansion

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Three new bike lanes on two of Midtown's busiest avenues will be installed as part of the New York City's next expansion of its open streets program, city officials announced Wednesday.

The new lanes will cover about two miles of street on Sixth and Seventh avenues, city officials said. Both lanes will stretch to West 59th street near Central Park, with the Sixth Avenue lane beginning on 34th Street and the Seventh Avenue lane beginning on 47th Street, city transportation officials said.

Lanes will be marked off with markings, barrels, signage and other forms of barriers, city officials said. The next expansion of open streets will bring nine new miles of bike lanes to streets throughout the city.

Work on the new bike lanes is expected to be "phased in throughout the summer," according to a city press announcement. Exact dates were not provided.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan to open 100 miles of New York City streets to allow residents the opportunity to go outside while maintaining safe social distances from other people to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. City Hall reached an agreement on the program with the City Council — which was pushing a plan to force the city to pedestrianize streets after de Blasio's initial open streets pilot was quickly abandoned.

In January, bike advocates called on the city to extend Midtown's Sixth Avenue bike lane from 34th Street to Central Park. The City Department of Transportation answered the call the next month, presenting a plan for new bike lanes on Sixth Avenue, Second Avenue and two to-be-determined crosstown streets.