City May Remove Protections From Dyckman Street Bike Lane

INWOOD, NY — Pressure from local elected officials and Community Board 12 has convinced the city Department of Transportation to reverse its course on protected bike lanes for Inwood's Dyckman Street.

The city will begin work to remove a protected lane from the south side of the busy commercial stretch, the DOT announced in a tweet. The new street layout will include two painted "buffer zones" between travel lanes and parking. The parking-protected bike lane north side of Dyckman Street will be spared in the redesign, according to the DOT.

Update: Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a Tuesday press conference that he's currently reviewing the plan, and that work to alter the street layout won't begin until his review is complete. Changes to the Dyckman Street bike lane are currently on hold.

Community Board 12 — which represents Inwood and Washington Heights — Congressman Adriano Espaillat and Borough President Gale Brewer all voiced opposition to bike lanes on Dyckman street after two protected lanes were implemented in December. Local City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez previously advocated for removing the lane on the south side of Dyckman and turning the lane on the north side into a two-way lane.

Opponents of the bike lanes claimed that congestion increased on Dyckman Street following the implementation, which hurt sales for businesses, made deliveries harder and could prevent emergency vehicles from using the street. Advocates of the lane said that the new street layout cut down on persistent double parking, made the area safer for bicyclists and pedestrians and turned Dyckman Street into a crucial link between west and east side bike paths.

The decision to remove a protected bike lane from the south side of Dyckman Street comes as a surprise, as DOT officials defended the bike lanes during a May community board meeting. During that meeting, city representatives touted protected bike lane projects as safety improvements for bikers, drivers and pedestrians.

There were 242 traffic-related injuries on Dyckman Street between 2012 and 2016, officials said. Of those injuries, eight pedestrians, one cyclist and three motor vehicle passengers were seriously hurt. Protected bike lanes have proved to reduce traffic injuries to all street users by as much as 15 percent, DOT officials said during the May meeting.

City officials did commit to short-term fixes to improve traffic flow on Dyckman such as updating signal timing, modifying the lanes to create a buffer between parked cars and traffic, creating loading zones and extending parking meter hours during the May meeting.

A DOT spokesperson did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.

Photo by Brendan Krisel/Patch