macdonwald

Anyone have experience with this kind of layout? I'd definitely like to see Philly making an effort along these lines. Per the article,

The most unusual aspect of the design, which will run from 16th Street to 23rd Street, is that it uses a lane of parked cars to protect cyclists from other traffic.

duppie

This is common practice in the Netherlands where bike lanes are often separated from motorized traffic either by some sort of buffer (grass, concrete) or a row of parked cars. The one thing I don't understand is why the bikelane is all the way on the left. I think this could cause unnecessary confusion with pedestrians crossing the bike lane.

Duppie

fordfasterr

The best part will be all of the passengers who typically just pop their door open all the way without looking back for cars coming past THEIR door zone !!

hahahaaa

I can already imagine all of the broken glass and ripped-off doors strewn in the middle of the street ! hahaa

chephy

All the usual questions associated with this kind of design pop up.

How are you supposed to make a right turn? How can you prevent left-hooks by left-turning drivers who did not see you because you were hidden by parked cars? How likely do you think is that lane to be blocked by car passengers, pedestrians, big cardboard boxes (being unloaded by delivery trucks)? How do you pass slower cyclists? How do you avoid a big pothole or a couple of construction cones or a big patch of glass?

It's similar to physically separated bike lanes, only worse, because visibility is obscured and peds are more likely to crowd the space. New York had to remove those segregated bike lanes because no one was using them. Why do they want to do a stupid thing again?

rhm

It looks a bit problematic to me, too, but... hey, I'll try it! It's only seven blocks, which is nothing, so it must be an experiment, right?

Most Manhattan streets are one-way, and the bike lanes --where present-- are normally on the left. It seems strange at first, but you get used to it; and it's nice to be away from the buses. The worst problem I have with the left-lane-bike-lanes is that you get used to them, and they're not on many streets. So every morning I go up 8th ave on the left, which is fine, and then every afternoon I come down 7th... so am I supposed to be on the left, or the right? I've asked the question many times, but I still don't know the official answer.

dipy911

On one-way streets, either far right or far left is acceptable.

I might use the bike lane, but it looks more dangerous than being able to take the street lane when necessary to avoid obstacles.

oboeguy

No way! Finally!! I've been saying forever that if we're going to have bikelanes, a full lane of traffic or parking needs to be nuked, and the bike lane should not have a "door zone". However, I don't like that the lane is not part of ordinary traffic.

Edit: The better solution would be to get rid of the parking lane entirely. As a double-plus bonus, fewer spots if combined w/ high meter pricing should mean fewer cars driving in the first place.

jyossarian

It's only 7 blocks on an out of the way stretch of 9th Ave. The locals will benefit, but the rest of the city will still be riding in traffic.

donnamb 

This is going to be an experiment that many bike planners in North America will be following closely. You NYC commuters will have to keep us in the know.

buzzman

I prefer being able to leave the bike lane at will and merge with other traffic in order to cross lanes to turn or to stop mid-block.

However, as others have pointed out it's an experiment and I have to hand it to Manhattan they're trying to make the city work for bikes and oddly enough it's the private automobile drivers who I predict will eventually come to feel marginalized.

I'm an open minded skeptic on this particular configuration and will definitely give it a shot when it's complete and I am next in NYC.

jwbnyc

Left or right is legal on streets Forty feet wide or wider, ie; the Avenues.

On streets less than Forty feet wide (side streets) Right is legal.

This should be interesting.

sukram

I am totally in favor of any effort to try to better design the streets to accommodate peds and cyclists. I think protected bike lanes would be beneficial in some areas, provided the bike lane doesn't become a motorcycle lane like the 59th St. Bridge this morning... (around 8:40 or so).

Now... what I'd really like to see is an improvement for cyclists on some of the major arteries around town.

Weaving around double parked trucks on 1st and 2nd while the cagers are zipping by well past the speed limit has lost its appeal to me. I don't necessarily need a bike lane, just a safer path. If they're going to give me a bike lane, make sure it's not blocked.

genec

I saw layouts like this all over Barcelona. There was actually a small physical curb for motorists to park against that separated the BL from the parked cars.

Perhaps the biggest issue is the reluctance of cyclists to even try the darn things...

Izengabe

Building a more seperate bike lanes like this in NYC is a great idea, but the lanes need to be connected to a bike path grid (not just some random 7 blocks). Let's hope this is a start.

NY really needs more bike lane like this on the Eastside. A seperate bike lane like this design on 1st ave between 39th street and 54th would be an excellent 1st step in connecting the Greenways on the East river and would bring a lot more bike traffic to the East River greenway bike paths.

jwbnyc

What would be great is if they did these kind of layouts at specific danger locations.

There are places in this city that are particularly dangerous for bicyclists.

10th Ave. in the Fifties is pretty suicidal, Seaman Ave. in Inwood between Cummings and 204, Columbus Circle and so on.

I'm sure everyone has their favorite spot to die.

Maybe a database of cyclists' intel on some of the more egregious locales would be of use to the people planning this stuff.

If they aren't going to make it continuous, they might as well put these experiments where they will do the most good.

sukram

+1

There needs to be a real effort to connect these routes in a logical way with a focus on transportation as well as recreation. The routes don't have to all be dedicated bike lanes but dumping people off onto a major artery choked with double parked trucks and bus stops is just plain dumb. The "bike route" signs on 2nd Ave south of 59th Street are a lesson in the absurd. The focus needs to be city-wide, in all the boroughs.

For commuting I want better paths through the city, including some dedicated north-south and east-west MUPs or separated bike lanes that run through midtown and downtown.

For recreation I'd love to see a real greenway/MUP connection from Manhattan through the Bronx to the southern tip of the South County Rail Trail... Manhattan to Mahopac in Putnam county... by bike via MUP most of the way. The South & North County Trails in Westchester are totally worth linking up to.

Wait... while I'm on this fantasy kick. Would they please enclose the cars/trucks on the 59th Street Bridge so I won't have to inhale their exhaust every day? I must have gotten used to it, but after I took my wife on the path for a walk one day she asked me how I could put up with the fumes... since then I've noticed the stench again. I think I'm going to start wearing a respirator and maybe some witty anti-pollution t-shirt...

Air

In terms of turning, the few articles I read mentioned that there is space before the intersection so that cars can see the bikes. I guess to make a right turn you'd have to get out of the lane before the block or just wait at the light to cross (which isn't longer than minute anyway).

I much prefer riding on the left hand side - I always seem to get more room from drivers. Maybe because they're within a foot or two of me versus on the other side of the car (out of sight out of mind). Also drivers would get out of the left side which means less doors opening, I find passengers tend to be a bit more skittish opening their doors in traffic.

I'm really glad that they're giving it a shot - supposedly it'll be done in a month or so. If it's successful than hopefully it's a start of a renovation in the most congested areas.

And Donna - I believe that Chicago is implementing something similar in their massive bike plan.

fattsmann

Definitely interested to see how this works out.

Air

Maybe these guys will help give out some tickets

akatsuki

I am sick of them subsidizing cars with free or cheap street parking all over NYC. If there is one thing that irritates me about the car infrastructure, that is it. If it was up to me, I would put market rate meters in every single spot in the city and eliminate a lot of spots.

These lanes will be a disaster, because New York pedestrians don't stay on the sidewalks when waiting to cross. NYC is not bicycle friendly at all, and probably never will be. They couldn't even pass the congestion tax, so I can't imagine they will ever spend the kind of money needed on more non-car infrastructure.

soundtweakers

I'm an Eastside residence working in Time Square and I couldn't agree more with this 2007 post more, however it is past mid-2010, there're now brand new seperated bike land on 1st and 2nd Ave. that starts somewhere far downtown up to 34th St. I love these lanes and the left turn traffic doesn't bother me. The cyclist that travel the wrong way bothers me way more.