[Click to go big]
Back on Sept. 20, we noted that — presumably — DOT officials distributed the above flyers to residents who live on 12th Street and 13th Street... providing information about protected bike lanes that are in development on 12th Street and 13th Street (as well as Horatio Street and Greenwich Avenue) ahead of the April 2019 L-train shutdown.
As reported in June, the DOT decided against its original idea for a single, two-way bike lane on 13th Street in favor of two separate, one-way lanes for 12th and 13th streets.
The city is putting in a bike lane on the north curb of 12th Street from Seventh Avenue to Avenue C, and the south curb of 13th Street from Greenwich Avenue to Avenue B separated from traffic with a painted buffer and flexible delineators.
Multiple EVG readers have pointed out that this work has started in recent days/weeks (painted buffer and flexible delineators still to come).
Here's a look at 13th Street, starting at Avenue B... where the "No Stopping Anytime" signs are now posted on the south side of the street ...
... at Avenue A...
...a view to the east from First Avenue...
...at First Avenue...
...a view to the east from Third Avenue...
... looking to the west between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue...
The work is just underway on 12th Street, where the "No Stopping Anytime" signs arrived ... here are two photos (thanks Brian K!) ... at 12th between Avenue A and Avenue B...
... and between Avenue A and First Avenue...
This link takes you to the DOT's overview for these bike lanes.
During the L-train outage, DOT officials expect these bike lanes to handle a surge in people bicycling. Cycling advocates have applauded this development, citing the lack of protected bike lanes going crosstown.
While the bike-lane work is moving forward, another lawsuit is aiming to put an end to this plan, as well as other L-train related planning. As Gothamist reported on Oct. 2:
On [Oct. 1], West Village resident and attorney Arthur Schwartz filed his second lawsuit against the MTA and the DOT, calling for yet another environmental assessment, as well as last minute changes to the agencies' sweeping mitigation plan. Specifically, Schwartz and his allies are opposed to the creation of a dedicated busway on 14th Street and an adjacent sidewalk expansion for pedestrians, along with the addition of protected bike lanes on 12th and 13th Street.
"The goal is to eliminate those bike lanes as designed, to make them not protected bike lanes or not do them at all," Schwartz told Gothamist, adding that his preference would be for the lanes to be restored to parking spaces. "I just don't think there's any genuinely demonstrated demand for people who used to take the L train who are all of a sudden going to hop on a Citi Bike."