Wash Heights Street Undergoes Major Changes: Bike Lanes, New Paint

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — A Washington Heights street recently went through a major makeover from the New York City Department of Transportation.

The DOT just finished a project that made a variety of changes to Amsterdam Avenue and West 190th Street.

Those changes included a new paint job, the installation of a two-way protected bike lane, pedestrian islands, curb extensions, and new art work.

This year, we installed safety improvements on Amsterdam Ave/Fort George Ave in Washington Heights. The project included a two-way protected #BikeNYC lane, pedestrian islands & curb extensions. Local high school students were heavily involved in planning the project. #nycdot2022 pic.twitter.com/wip0qnBrCc
— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) December 5, 2022

The changes to the street come around a year after the DOT presented to uptown's Community Board 12 about the ongoing speeding and reckless driving concerns on Amsterdam and Fort George Avenues along West 188th Street to St. Nicholas Avenue.

There are eight local schools in the area that increased the community concern.

From 2014 and 2018, the specific Washington Heights corridor has seen 45 traffic-related injuries, with two deaths, according to the DOT.

The DOT completed the work along with I Challenge Myself (ICM), an after-school program for students at George Washington Educational Campus (located just north of 193rd Street) to develop a safety proposal for the Upper Manhattan streets.