Milling and paving continues along Houston ahead of bike lane upgrade

City workers have resurfaced eastbound lanes on Houston Street from Second Avenue to Suffolk Street...

As first reported last Monday, the DOT is upgrading the existing bike lanes on Houston Street between Second Avenue and the FDR. Crews still have the roadway from Suffolk Street to the FDR left to do ...

Here's a recap of what is happening with the improvements in the days/weeks ahead: 

• Resurfacing of Houston between Second Avenue and the FDR
• Installing parking-protected bike lanes on Houston between Forsyth and the FDR 
• Installing delineator-protected and curbside bike lanes on Houston between Second Avenue and Forsyth .. and between Ludlow and Essex
• Creating painted pedestrian islands along Houston between Ludlow and Avenue C 
• Installing new bicycle parking on Houston at Orchard and Avenue D 

Plans for protected bike lanes along this corridor date to the fall of 2020 ... and put into place to provide cyclists a safer passage on city streets with the closure of the East River Park Greenway until 2026. 

This Houston Street work comes four months after the $1.45-billion East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project shut down bike access along the East River starting at Montgomery Street. 

The DOT pointed out the work in a tweet from late last week...

Work has begun on protected #BikeNYC lanes on E Houston St (FDR Dr to 2nd Ave) in #Manhattan. This work will:
🚴‍♂️ Install Protected Bike Lanes
🚶‍♀️ Add Pedestrian Space
🚗 Organize and Calm Traffic
🚦 Improve Signal Timing pic.twitter.com/D4RqG3dq9U

— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) April 1, 2022

Up next: Milling, then paving the westbound lanes along the same Houston Street corridor...

Based on the posted notices between Avenue A and Avenue C, it looks as if work will start here tomorrow (Tuesday) evening ...

Bike-lane upgrade underway on Houston

Work continues along East Houston Street as the DOT is upgrading the existing bike lanes on Houston Street between Second Avenue and the FDR...

Workers last week milled the eastbound lanes of Houston between Second Avenue and Avenue A. The crew will continue on toward the FDR starting this evening, per the posted warnings...

Here's what is happening with the improvements in the days/weeks ahead: 

• Resurfacing of Houston between Second Avenue and the FDR
• Installing parking protected bike lanes on Houston between Forsyth and the FDR 
• Installing delineator-protected and curbside bike lanes on Houston between Second Avenue and Forsyth .. and between Ludlow and Essex
• Creating painted pedestrian islands along Houston between Ludlow and Avenue C 
• Installing new bicycle parking on Houston at Orchard and Avenue D 

Plans for protected bike lanes along this corridor date to the fall of 2020 ... and put into place to provide cyclists a safer passage on city streets with the closure of the East River Park Greenway until 2026. 

This Houston Street work comes four months after the $1.45-billion East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project shut down bike access along the East River starting at Montgomery Street. 

The city installed new bike lanes for Avenue C late last summer.

Pylons for offset crossings arrive on 1st and 2nd Avenue intersections

[At 9th Street]

The city has finally finalized the offset crossings on several intersections along the First Avenue and Second Avenue bike lanes. (The markings had been in place; the plastic pylons arrived this week.)

News of the offset crossings was first announced on May 21. This after the city resurfaced First Avenue and repainted the bike lane.

As Streetsblog reported in May, the arrival of offset crossings in the East Village comes two years after the driver of a box truck reportedly made an illegal left turn turn — across multiple lanes of traffic on First Avenue at Ninth Street — and slammed into cyclist Kelly Hurley, who later died from her injuries.

Per Streetsblog:

In the aftermath of her death, advocates implored the agency to rethink its use of “mixing zones” — which force cyclists and drivers to negotiate the same space at the same time.

After Hurley’s death, Upper West Side architect Reed Rubey came up withan alternative design, which was subsequently endorsed by Manhattan Community Board 4.

Rubey’s efforts partly inspired DOT’s chosen solution: the offset intersection, which it piloted at select locations in 2017 and 2018. In September, DOT’s “Cycling at the Crossroads” report showed that cyclists felt significantly safer at intersections with offset crossings [PDF].

Other offset crossings with newly added pylons include on First Avenue at Seventh Street...



... and First Avenue at Fourth Street ...



Quoting Streetsblog from earlier this week: "Last year in New York City, car drivers caused more than 225,000 crashes, resulting in injuries to more than 60,000 people — and the deaths of 10 cyclists, 120 pedestrians and 96 motorists." So far in 2019, 19 cyclists have been killed by cars or trucks on city streets.

Bike lane paint returning to 1st Avenue

Back on Friday, DOT crews finally started painting the First Avenue bike lane — some six weeks after the city finished paving the roadway.

To date, though, the painting has only taken place on five blocks between Third Street and just shy of St. Mark's Place...



And no paint yet for Second Avenue...



Still to come (and as previously reported): the new offset crossings on select intersections on First Avenue and Second Avenue to make them safer for cyclists and pedestrians. The previous mixing zones forced cyclists and drivers to negotiate the same space at the same time, as Streetsblog noted.

And here's an example of offset crossing, as seen on Fourth Avenue and 13th Street...



Meanwhile, the bike lane is still MIA on the freshly paved 12th Street between First Avenue and Avenue B...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Resurfaced roadways on 1st Avenue and 2nd Avenue to have offset crossings

Resurfaced roadways on 1st Avenue and 2nd Avenue to have offset crossings

As you've likely noticed, the city has resurfaced parts of First Avenue (above!) and Second Avenue in recent weeks... (top two photos via Vinny & O)



The DOT has now added the markings to the roadway for the crosswalks, bike lanes, etc...









With the resurfacing comes an important change at intersections to make them safer for pedestrians and cyclists. The city is adding offset crossings, like you'll find on Fourth Avenue at 13th Street ...

Paving is now complete on 1st and 2nd Aves in the East Village. Our markings contractor will soon begin installing roadway markings. Crews will be updating #bikenyc intersections, adding off-set crossings to many of the intersections in this area. #BikeMonth pic.twitter.com/tQxPdN0VIY

— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) May 21, 2019

This morning crews are on 1st Ave in the East Village laying out where markings will soon be installed, including a new offset crossing at E 5th St. #bikenyc #BikeMonth pic.twitter.com/ssNIP8WKcT

— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) May 24, 2019

As David Meyer reported last week at Streetsblog, the arrival of offset crossings in the East Village comes two years after the driver of a box truck reportedly made an illegal left turn turn — across multiple lanes of traffic on First Avenue at Ninth Street — and slammed into cyclist Kelly Hurley, who later died from her injuries.

Per Streetsblog:

In the aftermath of her death, advocates implored the agency to rethink its use of “mixing zones” — which force cyclists and drivers to negotiate the same space at the same time.

After Hurley’s death, Upper West Side architect Reed Rubey came up withan alternative design, which was subsequently endorsed by Manhattan Community Board 4.

Rubey’s efforts partly inspired DOT’s chosen solution: the offset intersection, which it piloted at select locations in 2017 and 2018. In September, DOT’s “Cycling at the Crossroads” report showed that cyclists felt significantly safer at intersections with offset crossings [PDF].

[An example of offset crossing on 70th Street and Columbus Avenue]

And a look at First Avenue and Ninth Street on Saturday...





On Sunday, the Post, citing NYPD data, reported that "traffic crashes have already killed 71 people this year, up from 58 during the same time period in 2018 — a 22 percent surge."

In total, 39 pedestrians and 10 cyclists have been killed by cars or trucks on city streets this year. (There were 10 cyclists killed in all of 2018.) Drivers or passengers in vehicles accounted for the other 22 fatalities on city roads.

Reader report: A car drives in the 1st Avenue bike lane

[Reader-submitted photo]

An EVG reader shared this from this afternoon...

I was just on First Avenue and St. Mark's, and a silver car drove past me, moving uptown on First Avenue in the bike lane! The guy was driving in the bike lane! I was shouting you are in the bike lane, and a delivery guy with a handtruck who was in the car's path was shouting the same thing.

But the guy kept driving, and turned left on 9th Street right where Kelly Hurley was hit. I chased after the car, but he zoomed down 9th Street and turned left onto Second Avenue. I went back to the corner of First Avenue and St. Mark's hoping he would come around, so I could snap a photo of the car, but he didn't. The car was silver, and I didn't see what kind of car it was.

Anyway, it was shocking to see someone do this right after a cyclist was killed here. It was shocking that the guy ignored us. His window was down, so he had to have heard us. It goes to show that First Avenue is a free-for-all. It is yet more evidence to me that cops need to be stopping not bikes but cars on First Avenue and ticketing them and informing them of the rules of the road.

[Updated] More on the 1st Avenue bike collision

Last Wednesday morning, a box truck struck a 31-year-old woman riding in the northbound bike lane on First Avenue at Ninth Street.

She was listed in critical condition at Bellevue.

-----

Updated 4/12

A friend of the victim told us on Sunday that doctors were optimistic about her chances for recovery.

Unfortunately, there were complications. DNAinfo now reports that Kelly Hurley was taken off life support yesterday.

Per DNAinfo: "Investigators were still reviewing video, the spokesman added, and the driver could still be charged."

-----

As for this intersection, Streetsblog noted:

The block of the First Avenue bike lane approaching 9th Street has a “mixing zone,” in which cyclists and drivers turning left negotiate the same space during the same signal phase.

Intersections that separate cyclists and turning in time with “split-phase” signals have a safer track record than mixing zones, but DOT prefers to limit them to intersections with high pedestrian volumes.

On Friday, the guerrilla street engineers at the Transformation Department "staged an intervention" at the intersection ...

Mixing zone before. Drivers cut across cyclists' path or cyclists must merge into 1st Ave. pic.twitter.com/1Jdpr5N4KS

— Transformation Dept. (@NYC_DOTr) April 7, 2017

Safer for pedestrians too. #demandmore pic.twitter.com/R6SBjZrnnz

— Transformation Dept. (@NYC_DOTr) April 7, 2017

An EVG reader noted other obstacles for cyclists in the bike lane that have nothing to do with traffic... namely the trash that piles up on the weekends...



Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updating] Reader report: Bike-truck collision on 1st Avenue at 9th Street

New bike lane buffers kills off First Avenue garden

[Photo via Michael Hirsch on Facebook]

As you may have noticed, workers have been replacing the bike lane buffers/pedestrian refugees along First Avenue ...

One reader heard from workers that the original contractors used cheap cement three years ago. So they hired new contractors to re-do the buffers that started cracking.

"Great moments in New York City wasted taxpayer money," said longtime resident Michael Hirsch.

Meanwhile, much to the chagrin of several residents, the reconstruction has killed off the small garden that they created and tended to at East Seventh Street these past three years...





... and the buffer garden at East Seventh Street in better days ...



Garden photos via EVG reader Raquel.

Posts that I never got around to posting in 2011: Is this a good place for a cellphone call

[Photo by blue glass]