threephi

I took my first ride on the new 9th Avenue bike path today. Concrete has been poured on only the first two or three blocks but the signage and bollards are all in place and you can bike the entire length (a very short nine blocks). The feeling of riding on a piece of road in the heart of Manhattan, knowing that it is exclusively and specifically for bikes, totally safe from dooring, is incredible. The nine blocks go by very quickly and make you wish for more.

I took a few pix at the start of the path at 23rd street. They don't quite capture the full splendor of the new path, but a really good angle would've required standing in the middle of 23rd street in midday traffic.

But I think this image of the sign that marks the start of the path really sums it up:

That is one frickin' awesome sign!

This pic shows the concrete divider that separates the bikes from the cages. I'm not intimately familiar with the full plan but I'm hoping the hole in the middle will soon hold a tree Also note the van parked just past the divider, between the path and traffic:


And here's a view straight-on down the path. The feeling of openness, seeing a clear lane ahead with only bikes in it, not only makes you want to pick up your bike and ride down it, but it really opens up the sidewalk and makes that entire side of the street feel lighter:

buzzman

wow. it looks better in reality than it seemed in theory. I'm still slightly on the skeptical side until I've ridden it- it might be a while before I'm back in NYC but I'll ride on this as soon as I can- I'm so curious. Thanks for the update. it would be really cool if it worked. got to hand it to the city of New York for putting their money where their mouth is and experimenting.

good pics!

stevesurf

That is just very cool...we have a new way to get downtown! we have to modify those DOT maps...

Izengabe

So jealous because I rarely ride down there!!! Please build one on the East Side!!!

brainsan

Agree!! I want one up 1st and one down 2nd ave throughout the whole Island The existed section on 2nd ave sucks. It's no more than a parking lane for cars and trucks.

sukram

+1 on the East Side... from the Upper East Side all the way downtown... I regularly commute between the 50s and the Upper East side between offices during the day and dodging double parked trucks and cars as well as the buses is not my idea of a fun ride. And some nice east-west routes through midtown would be nice too. And better bridge access... the list just goes on...

jyossarian

That bike lane on 2nd Ave. is the absolute worst. It only goes from 14th St. to Houston. Cars and trucks routinely double park there, cabs swerve in and out to pick up/drop off, cars swerve in and out of parking spots, and use the lane to make left turns from. I feel safer riding on the right or in the middle of the street. It needs the 9th Ave. treatment and a fence to keep peds out of it.

adamcsmith

I attended the "How New Yorkers Ride Bikes" Festival, hosted by David Byrne, a couple of weekends ago. It seems that the city is attempting to make great strides at improving NYC for pedestrians and cyclists. Guest speakers included Jan Gehl, a Danish architect that helped shape the city of Copenhagen and improve the way people commute and get around the city. He has been hired by NYC to provide consulting on how the city could improve.

Also, additional panelists included Paul Steely White from Transportation Alternatives, a representative from the DOT, as well as a representative from the Dept. of Health, among others. The panel discussed what has been done, what they're currently working on, and plans for the future. There was a promise by the city to add 200 more miles of bike lanes over the next 3 years, IIRC. TA is really pushing the congestion pricing proposal, and suggests it could even lead to a FREE public transit system with additional funds left over to help improve the public transit infrastructure.

Oh, they also pointed out the completion of the 9th Ave bike lane, so I rode it on the way home from the event, and it was a nice stretch, but much too short. Got to start somewhere though.

oboeguy

Sounds like the 1st Ave lane which I now pretty much ignore. No, check that, I avoid it.

Agreed w/ a poster above: the pics look better than the original idea, which I liked in the first place. I'm still a little skeptical, though, with respect to getting through intersection safely. Peds and turning cars could be more of a menace than ever.

threephi

I think I agree with this. My normal commute is down West End/11th Ave from the 80's to Chelsea. I prefer the streets to the Hudson Greenway since it's a more direct route and not as windy, so I can make better time. I really like bike paths, but I've never had a problem riding mixed in with auto traffic. By necessity it keeps me constantly focussed on what's happening with the vehicles around me and ahead of me. Riding in a dedicated lane is quite enjoyable, but I think it does make it harder to keep track of cars that might cross your path. Also, and admittedly it's hard to tell from only nine blocks, I think it might be harder to get a good speed up.

But all told I've only ridden the new path two or three times, since my normal ride doesn't follow that stretch of road. It's still a wonderful feeling every time I have done it. If it were 40 blocks long instead of nine I think it would be a lot more useful.

BTW thanks for all the kind words about the photos