City To Implement New Bike Lanes On UWS, Hell's Kitchen

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Warm weather has arrived in New York City, which means the city Department of Transportation will get to work on installing new bike lanes planned for the city.

Two new bike lanes will be implemented in the coming weeks that will improve biking infrastructure on the Upper West Side and offer a better connection between the neighborhood and Hell's Kitchen to the south, according to DOT work notices. Work should begin in June on plans to extend the protected bike lane on 10th Avenue/Amsterdam Avenue from West 52nd to West 72nd streets and on bike lanes within the hectic passageway of Columbus Circle, according to city notices.

Both of the plans were proposed by the city last year and won local support from community boards representing Hell's Kitchen and the Upper West Side.

The stretch of 10th avenue between West 52nd and 72nd streets has seen 277 traffic-related injuries, 16 severe, between 2012 and 2016. There have also been two cyclist fatalities, one at West 55th Street and another at West 72nd Street in the past six years. The stretch of road currently has no dedicated space for bicyclists, long pedestrian crossings and is notorious for speeding drivers, according to a DOT presentation.

The plan to extend the bike lanes on 10th Avenue will take one travel lane away from drivers and re-purpose it as a parking lane, which will serve as a physical barrier to separate the bike lane. Street-side parking will remain on the avenue's east curb and the bike lane will be installed on the avenue's west curb. The plan will also include pedestrian islands and left-turn lanes at dangerous intersections.

The project for Columbus Circle will create a buffered bike lane around the inner part of the traffic circle in order to provide dedicated space for cyclists. The bike lanes will provide cyclists a safe way to use the circle — which connects Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park West and Central Park South — without taking away traffic lanes from cars, according to a DOT presentation.

The city predicts the plan will calm vehicle traffic in the circle, provide pedestrians shorter crossings and create a dedicated space for bicyclists. Between 2012 and 2016 there have been 145 total traffic-related injuries, 17 severed, within Columbus Circle and Eighth Avenue between West 56th and 58th streets, according to the DOT.