The Upper West Side may be one step closer to getting protected bike lanes.
Monty Dean, spokesperson for the city’s Department of Transportation, said on Friday that the DOT will be presenting plans for bike lanes to the Upper West Side’s Community Board 7 this May.
In October 2009, CB7 submitted a request to the DOT asking that they start preparing a proposal for protected bike lanes on Columbus and Amsterdam avenues from 59th to 110th streets.
Dean said that the DOT is now examining this request, like all others, on a “case-by-case basis” and looking specifically at the needs of local residents and businesses, specifically regarding curb access. This has been an issue since the lanes would be physically separated from the road. The CB7 proposal involved protected bike paths, where cyclists ride in a lane directly adjacent to the sidewalk and protected from traffic by physical buffer zones.
Though the DOT confirmed this week that it plans to follow up with the original October request from CB7 and present its plans to the community board in May, CB7 members and cycling advocates who helped form the proposal said this was news to them.
A few weeks ago at a March CB7 full board meeting, Tila Duhaime of the Upper West Side Streets Renaissance Campaign—which has helped lead the bike lane effort—expressed concern that the plans seemed “mostly stalled.”
Mel Wymore, chair of CB7 said on Tuesday that the community board had not heard from the DOT about bike lanes.
Biking advocates expressed hope in October that the lanes could be installed as early as this spring.
“Just painting stripes on the road is not enough here,” Duhaime said. “If they start this year, I will think that is pretty responsive,” she added, saying that she would be frustrated with any further delay.
But not everyone is advocating speed in the plans. Monica Blum, president of the Lincoln Square Business Improvement District, emphasized that above all, the DOT must thoroughly look at all the options available for bike lanes, and that extensive time is needed for local business that will be affected by new bike lanes to be properly consulted.
“I’m a bike rider, all in favor of some bike riding, but you have to look at other issues,” Blum said.
Since both Amsterdam Avenue and Columbus Avenue are highly commercial areas, bike lanes could bring complications to garbage pick-up and how deliveries would be made, she said.
Paul Zachary, a General Studies student who commutes to school every day on his bike, said that the barrier is precisely what makes the lanes worth installing.
“The problem with unprotected bike lanes is that people treat them like extra parking lanes. Protected lanes allow it to do what it’s supposed to do—be a lane for bike traffic,” he said.
Blum said that the DOT must also consider the fact that commercial trucks are allowed to drive on Columbus Avenue. “We don’t have a lot of avenues that take truck traffic, so Columbus takes a lot of it,” she said.
Ultimately, though Blum said that these issues can be addressed by a proper, thorough process. “I think DOT wants to do this right, and I think they will do it right. It just takes time,” Blum said.
Several local politicians have supported the implementation of bike lanes, though they have also acknowledged the concerns of neighborhood businesses.
In a February letter addressed to DOT officials, State Senators Thomas Duane and Eric Schneiderman and Borough President Scott Stringer, among others, wrote, “We offer our assistance in facilitating as many meetings as are necessary for all stakeholders—residents, affected businesses and their respective Business Improvement Districts, senior centers, non-profit organizations, uniformed services and others—[to] be consulted.”
The letter also said that “more than 100 businesses along the proposed routes have expressed interest in working with DOT and CB7 to make these bike lanes a reality.” UWSSRC collected the signatures.
James Freedland, director of communications for Schneiderman, said that bike lanes were a part of “making the Upper West Side an even better place to live, work, and visit.”
At West Side Bicycles on 96th Street, employees said they were really excited about the possibility of new lanes. Salesperson Luca Gentle said, “I think it would improve our business greatly. Having a designated lane is safer and it encourages people to ride their bikes,” said. But he added, “Whether they do it now or five years ago is irrelevant.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article did not make it clear that the DOT is merely following up on CB7's October request for a proposal. The wording has been changed to make that distinction.
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