In Manhattan, NYC, what is the best way to ride from Upper East Side to Upper West Side (80's or 90's Streets), and return? From the map it seems any route would require a large detour via either 72nd st. or 110th st. in the Central Park (btw is the direction of the loop in Central Park counter-clockwise?). Is there any safe shortcut? (Riding along the M86 or M96 bus line across the park is too unsafe, so I'd avoid that.) Thanks for any tips.
The loop in Central Park runs counter-clockwise. There's a two way service road at 103rd street that takes you across the park. Local community boards have been working to have shared paths around 97th Street. According to Streetsblog they were due to open last month.
http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/07/1...hs-take-shape/
Stacy, that's great news! Will check that out some day.
You could also just use the CP transverses.
HHCMF - Take pride in your ability to amaze lesser mortals! - MikeR
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Are you referring to the ones where the cross-town buses go through (M79, M86, M96)? It seems to me rather unsafe, narrow and dark, plus the turns. A lot of cars/buses running there fast.Originally Posted by jyossarian
Yup, those things. Be visible and be careful. Or you can ride on the sidewalk. Not a lot of pedestrians to hit.
HHCMF - Take pride in your ability to amaze lesser mortals! - MikeR
We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!
the transverses arent that bad. take the lane. The timing of the lights means a lot of cars go by but then you get a couple of minutes with no cars usually. I live on 83rd street i go 2 different ways.
1. across to 5th avenue, down to 72street where you can cut all the way across the park and exit at tavern on the green.
2 across to madison, up to 91st enter the park at engineers gate 90th and 5th and ride through the park to the 103rd st transverse
3. ride right through the park. yes I know bikes aren't supposed to go on paths but I go super slow and if anyone remotely complains I simply say "sir/maam, if i were to get off my bike and walk it, I would take up double the amount of room on the path so I choose to slowly coast through the park" This time of year, the park isn't that busy during the day so it's not that bad. Final option is to enter park at engineers gate and take the bridal path across to 86th and cpw. this is my favorite way. The bridal path is super wide and always filled with young fitness people running not annoying complaining old ladies. provided you have decently wide tires, it's easy to ride on the hard packed dirt. my commuter bike has 32c's with tread so it's great.
on another note, with all the *****ing that people do about bike lanes being put on city streets, why in the hell can't bloomberg find a way to simply allow bikes to ride on the paths at low speeds simply as a means to get across town???? there are almost 70 miles of pedestrian pathways in central park not to mention all the grassy dirt areas that you can walk on while there is only 6 miles of bike pathway in the entire park.
I get it, if you say "bike speed limit 5mph", people are still going to go 15-20 miles because the perception is that bikes are allowed so speed doesn't matter. but there really needs to be a better way to allow bikes to get ACROSS The park. Another example is on 72nd street, that is a great way to get across the park east to west but technically west to east is a no-no. There should be a bike lane there that runs BOTH directions as a means to get across the park
Thanks, dalesclyde. 103th st. may not be a good neighborhood to ride, even in the park? 72nd sounds a good idea, which I'll try.
I did this today. Great! The only thing is it is one-way. When I rode back from westside to eastside, I had to take the big loop in the Park: East 72nd st --> 60th st. -->eastside --> 72nd st.
Question: Are these routes open at night? How is it riding at night there?
It's fine. You don't hear gunshots south of 110th St.
@BicyclesOnly tweeted last week that the two crosstown paths have been opened to bicycles in the park, at 97th St, just south of the transverse.
Thanks for the good news. After we crossed the park via 97th st., can we get directly to the Hudson/westside Greenway via 91st street?
When I ride laps around the park I usually exit at 90th Street, and then use 89th Street to cross town. West 91th St. has a bike lane that will take you straight to Riverside Park near the Soldiers and Sailor's monument. Then you can use the park paths to go down to the Westside Greenway.
Sounds good. Will definitely try that out soon!
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