Dangerous, Clogged 3rd Avenue To Get Long-Awaited UES Redesign

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Dangerous, traffic-clogged Third Avenue will get a pedestrian- and bike-friendly redesign, the city announced this week, responding to longstanding demands for improvements to the extra-wide thoroughfare.

All of Third Avenue between East 59th and 96th streets will be outfitted with a bike lane and bus lane, reducing the number of car travel lanes from five to three, according to a presentation given Wednesday to Community Board 8 by the Department of Transportation (DOT).

The redesign, set to be implemented in 2023, comes more than a year after Manhattan residents launched a campaign to revamp Third Avenue, saying the seven-lane behemoth should be made into a people-friendly "boulevard."

While the campaign largely targeted Midtown, the city chose to focus its first efforts on the Upper East Side since its stretch of Third Avenue has been especially dangerous — recording six pedestrian deaths and one cyclist fatality since 2016.

"We're all in," said Nick Carey, a lead engineer with the Department of Transportation, during Wednesday's meeting. "We think Third Avenue could be a lot better than it is."

Intersections along Third Avenue will also be outfitted with new "offsets": painted areas where one or two parking spots are removed near crosswalks in order to give pedestrians better views of oncoming traffic.

And a handful of busy intersections like 79th, 86th and 96th streets will be given new left-turn traffic lanes and "split-phase" traffic signals, in which pedestrians and cyclists get green lights before drivers, reducing the chance of crashes, DOT said.

Besides cyclists and bus riders, pedestrians will benefit from the redesign, according to DOT. Painted islands at dozens of intersections will reduce crosswalks' length by more than 20 feet, and similar road-narrowing projects in other neighborhoods have managed to reduce illegal speeding, according to data taken by DOT.

The proposal got an overwhelmingly positive reception from residents and from Community Board 8 members, who have repeatedly called for more bike lanes to be built on the Upper East Side.

Kathleen Steed, 77, who has lived on Third Avenue for 45 years and uses a cane for mobility issues, said she would welcome the shortened crosswalks.

"There's no way I can cross Third Avenue on a green light," she said. "As a pedestrian and as somebody who has trouble moving, I'm so glad that good things are going to happen."

Others called on DOT to be bolder in their design, suggesting widened sidewalks, added plantings and benches, or a two-way bike lane. (Carey, in response, said a two-way lane was impractical since Manhattan bike lanes get so much use.)

As it stands, these three dozen blocks of Third Avenue see more than 1,760 bike trips and 50,000 bus passengers daily, according to city data. That includes riders of the M102 bus — recently crowned the slowest route in New York City by an advocacy group for its excruciating average speed of 4.6 miles per hour.

Some neighbors and board members worried that the changes could worsen traffic congestion on Third Avenue, which is already plagued by double-parked delivery trucks. Andrew Fine, vice president of the East 86th Street Association, said he welcomed the new bike lane — but only if paired with better traffic enforcement.

"Three [travel] lanes with two lanes of double-parking is a nightmare," he said.

Once the project is implemented next year, Carey said DOT will monitor its results — and will consider redesigning more stretches of Third Avenue, which continues south to Cooper Square and north to 128th Street.

The community board's committee ultimately voted 12-1, with one abstention, to support the plan.

Related coverage:

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• Victim In Upper East Side Crash Identified; Driver Arrested: NYPD
• Midtown's Hectic 3rd Avenue Reimagined Under New Proposal