Fifth Avenue To Get Protected Bike Lanes In Greenwich Village

GREENWICH VILLAGE, NY — Fifth Avenue is getting a new protected bike lane that will span more than 15 blocks, the mayor's office announced on Tuesday.

Construction on the bike lane, which will stretch along 5th Avenue from 23rd Street to Washington Square Park, is scheduled to begin this spring. This stretch of the road currently has a conventional bike lane, meaning that cyclists have their own demarcated lane but it is not protected by barriers.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday the protected bike lane along with a slew of other construction initiatives designed to make city streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. He gave the green light to more than a dozen projects like the Fifth Avenue bike lanes that are part of his "Vision Zero" plan, a citywide project working to lower traffic accidents and fatalities. De Blasio said Tuesday that the coming construction projects would bring crosswalks, sidewalks and protected bike lanes to areas in all five boroughs, according to a statement from his office.

"Dangerous streets have to change," de Blasio said in a statement. "We want to get the word out: we’re moving lanes, adding new space for pedestrians and making it safer to cross intersections—all to keep your family safe. These changes have helped make each of the last three years under Vision Zero safer than the last."

The projects include street tweaks in every borough, including improvements to the Brooklyn Bridge entrance at Tillary Street. The entrance to the Brooklyn side of the bridge will get a wider pedestrian and cyclist entrance to the bridge promenade as well as new crosswalks and medians, the mayor's office said. The troublesome spot has seen 482 people injured, 23 of them seriously, and one person killed over the last five years, according to de Blasio's office.

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Lead image via Shutterstock; secondary image via Department of Transportation.