St. Mark's Place between A and First Avenue
According to the Department of Transportation, the work includes a new two-way, parking-protected bike lane along Lafayette Street and Fourth Avenue, creating a continuous north-south route from SoHo up to Union Square. (For those interested in more details, here's a PDF with a deep dive into the plans, part of a presentation this week to Community Board 2.)
Closer to the neighborhood, DOT also plans a short two-way bike lane on Astor Place (between Broadway and Lafayette) to better connect existing routes. Riders heading east would then be directed along East Eighth Street — and over to St. Mark's Place — providing a clearer connection toward Tompkins Square Park. (St. Mark's Place currently does not have marked bike lanes.)
On Lafayette between Eighth Street and Ninth Street, a Citi Bike station currently on the sidewalk is expected to be moved into the roadway, which should open up some pedestrian space on what can be a crowded stretch.
The changes are tied in part to street repaving schedules and are also being framed as preparation for increased foot traffic this summer, tied to the World Cup.
Work is expected to begin this spring.
Thanks for posting this. After looking at the PDF, I think this makes a lot of sense, especially the Lafayette Street two way design. I bike a lot around the neighborhood and having a safe route south (west of Second Avenue) would be very helpful. I do question the two lanes of parking vs one lane of travel, but presumably they have traffic studies supporting the reduction.
ReplyDeletemore important than the bikes is that the 3 blocks of Saint Marks Place should be marked as historical, so that the greedy developers cannot step in and build huge monstrosities
ReplyDeleteBike lane at st marks would have issues with the street dining/drinking when the street is closed off on Saturdays
ReplyDeleteEverything seems reasonable to me, including the one-way designation on Astor (a pretty pointless street anyway). The one exception is the single traffic lane for 14th to 15th on Park Ave. As any rider of the M1/2/3 can attest, the loading zone there has already de facto reduced that stretch to one lane, frequently blocked, and I don't think their plan for a narrow shared loading lane will work. They should be more creative and consider routing the bike lane through the park median or something--does not make sense to spite the bus to save the bike. Think holistically DOT!
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