After seeing a spike of bicycle accident injuries during the coronavirus crisis, the city doubles the number of temporary protected bike lanes

Street advocates are predicting an increase in bicycle accidents in New York City as many New Yorkers , including many newbies, are opting to use a bike to commute in the city rather than risking getting infected by the coronavirus in the New York subway. The mayor listened to them and  recently announced that the DOT would double the number of temporary protected bike lanes available for cyclists to commute around the city. Nine more miles of temporary protected bike lanes will be added to the other 9 miles  already installed last month as part of the “Open Street” initiative.

Additionally another 13 miles of open streets will be added in areas that are heavily affected by the virus.

The additional temporary protected bike lanes will be installed in Queens and in Manhattan

A temporary protected bike lane will be installed in Harlem on Fifth Avenue between 110th and 120th Street to protect cyclists from heavy bus traffic. Two others will be installed on 6th and 7th Avenue between 59th street and 34th Street while in Lower Manhattan temporary protected bike lanes will be installed on Lafayette Street and on Center Street from the Brooklyn Bridge to Spring Street in Soho. Another one will connect Central Park to the Queensboro Bridge. In Queens, temporary protected bike lanes will be installed on Broadway and Northern Boulevard from 34th Avenue to Queens Plaza.

NO additional protected bike lanes in Brooklyn or in the Bronx

The Bronx which recently had a spike in bicycle accidents will not get any extra temporary bike lanes. Bronx residents will only get 0.12 miles of extra open street near Riverdale Playground on 236th Street between Hudson Manor Terrace and Independence Ave as well as 0.05 miles of Open Street on Forest Avenue between  156th Street and Weschester Ave near the Captain Rivera Playground.

Brooklyn which has one of the highest density of cyclists will not get any extra protected bike lanes either, however additional streets will be blocked to traffic and open to pedestrians. Most of them will be open only during the week-end.

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