The Future of Bicycles on the Upper East Side and in East Harlem

Michael Storm 

Since the days of protests against unruly bike messengers to today’s debates about food deliverymen, bikes have remained a controversial addition to New York City’s streets. But with city government now embracing cycling in new ways and with ridership on the rise, it’s time to take a look at some of the prospects for bicycles on the Upper East Side and in East Harlem. 

One of the most visible changes to our neighborhood has been the addition of protected bicycle lanes to First and Second Avenues north of 59th Street. The lanes were proposed in 2011 with construction beginning in 2012. Currently, the lanes are about 50% complete and extend northward along First Avenue from 59th Street to 96th Street and southward along Second Avenue from 125th Street to 104th Street. The alteration of the previous design is relatively simple: instead of running between the line of parked cars on the curb and vehicular traffic, the new lanes take the curb and parking protects cyclists from traffic. 

Even when an unprotected bike lane offers space for one UPS truck to double-park, the other one chooses to double-park in the street. This causes congestion for both cyclists and vehicles. 

The new lanes offer benefits to all residents while also raising issues that deserve attention. New curb extensions included in the protected bike lane design— which include planters for additional street trees—shorten the distance from one side of the street to another and give pedestrians additional protection while crossing the street. Residents, such as the elderly and children, will have less distance to cover while crossing the street. 

The new lanes also address an oft-voiced complaint about bicyclists’ lack of attention to traffic laws. Because the new lanes concentrate cyclists in a narrow corridor between the curb and parked cars, it is much more dangerous for them to ride excessively fast. With increased numbers of cyclists using the lanes, it will also be more difficult for bicyclists to ride in the wrong direction. 

The NYC Council has also become more proactive in addressing the legal violations of bicycle deliverymen. Two recent pieces of legislation by local Council Members Melissa Mark-Viverito and Jessica Lappin increase enforcement of prohibitions against electric bicycles and raise the fine for those using them. With rules requiring helmets, vests with restaurant identification, and other related materials, the Council has also increased enforcement of regulations for bicycle deliverymen. The intent is to make restaurants more responsible for the safety and behavior of their employees. 

This delivery cyclist from Upper East Side restaurant China Fun is sporting a regulation visibility vest with restaurant identification number, license plate, and helmet.

A more pressing concern for cyclists and drivers alike is double parking, which has become more of an issue as protected bike lanes take up more road space. While delivery trucks could once park in an unprotected bike lane and allow for adequate flow of vehicular traffic at the expense of cyclists, they now sit in one of only three vehicular lanes. 

To argue against protected bike lanes because they remove space for double-parking ignores the reality that double-parking is dangerous and difficult regardless of bike lanes. As the DOT completes bike lanes along First and Second Avenues, increased awareness of double-parking should prompt us to advocate for new solutions to improve our streets. 

Sitting in the wings is the new CitiBike share program that was just launched in May. While we await an extension of the program to the Upper East Side and East Harlem, the successes and failures of the program that now covers Manhattan below 59th Street and western Brooklyn will shape when and how the program is extended north. More importantly, CitiBike marks a new era for cycling in New York City and a new look for our streets. As things continue to progress, we can look forward to new ways to improve our streets and our neighborhood. 

A CitiBike rack ready for installation on NYC streets. Photo by Daily News. 

To learn more about cycling, visit: www.nyc.gov/bikes and to learn more about the CitiBike share program visit: www.citibikenyc.com 

To read the complete spring 2013 issue of CIVITAS News, visit http://civitasnyc.org/civitas-newsletters/

Sharing the Road on Manhattan’s East Side

By Elizabeth Manus

Prepared for the CIVITAS Spring 2011 Newsletter

Protected bike lanes on Columbus Avenue

Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan told an audience of design-minded people in midtown Manhattan that now is the time “to build more choices” into “underperforming” streets that were engineered for car travel. Thus, she stated, bicycle lanes represent an important part of DOT’s overall strategy. Indeed, over the past four years approximately 250 miles of bike lanes have been introduced into the 6,000 miles of city streets.

The implementation of Select Bus Service (SBS) along First and Second Avenues has afforded DOT an opportunity to redesign a part of Manhattan’s East Side streetscape to provide a place for bicycle travel. Accordingly, DOT planners are in the process of considering various bike lane designs along these corridors.

Essentially, there are four types of bike lanes DOT can choose from. Along a physically protected bike lane, cyclists travel a green strip running between the sidewalk on one side and a white painted area, flanked most often by a parked-car lane, on the other. In a buffered lane, cyclists have the parking lane on one side and a parallel dashed-line painted buffer on the other; the barrier is visual, not physical. The conventional bike lane, designated by pavement striping, is the most common type of lane. Finally, the shared lane is a route cyclists share with motor vehicles. All bikeways feature the symbol of a helmeted rider perched on a bicycle, and a shared lane is marked additionally by chevrons.

Currently, on the First and Second Avenue SBS routes cyclists enjoy access to protected lanes below 34th Street, a situation which provides maximum protection. When protected lanes are laid, “injury crashes for all road users (drivers, pedestrians, cyclists), typically drop by 40 percent and by more than 50 percent in some locations,” according to a March 21, 2011 memo by Howard Wolfson, Deputy Mayor for Government Affairs and Communications. For this reason, bike advocacy groups are urging that protected lanes be extended north to 59th Street and in East Harlem.

In considering which type of bike lane to make part of the roadway, DOT designers, planners and engineers will be analyzing everything from bicycle volume to parking needs, pedestrian crossing distances and store loading plans. Many cyclists stress that to travel on a physically unprotected lane, even under optimal pavement conditions, is to travel unsafely.

Find more about NYC bicycling routes and regulations for riding at:

www.bit.ly/NYCDOTbike