De Blasio announces new Delancey Street bike lanes ahead of L train shutdown
Delancey Street via Wiki Commons
Mayor de Blasio has announced the opening of a new quarter-mile, two-way protected bike lane along Delancey Street on the Lower East Side. The stretch connects to the Williamsburg Bridge, the most traveled by cyclists of all the East River crossings, and is “expected to play a central role during the shutdown of L train service between Brooklyn and Manhattan” when it begins on April 27th. Currently, 7,300 cyclists cross the Bridge each day, and the Mayor expects the new bike lanes to double or even triple that number.
Delancey Street is a critical point for de Blasio since it saw 24 serious traffic injuries and two fatalities, both pedestrians, between 2012 and 2016, making it a key focus of the Mayor’s Vision Zero initiative. Not only will the new bike lanes connect to the Williamsburg Bridge bike path, but also with the Allen Street/1st Avenue/Pike Street lanes and the Chrystie Street/2nd Avenue protected lanes. According to the press release, the “DOT added a Jersey barrier to protect the lane along the south side of the median between Allen and Clinton Streets, as well as a first-of-its-kind ‘bike island’ at the intersection of Allen and Delancey Streets.”
The L train shutdown will officially cease running between 8th Avenue and Bedford Avenue for 15 months on April 27, 2019 so that the Canarsie Tunnel can be repaired from damaged sustained during Hurricane Sandy. In addition to these new bike lanes, the city will look to ease the blow to the 275,000 affected riders with five additional bus routes, a new M14 Select Bus Service on 14th Street (which is already being prepped), a ferry service, and 1,000 new roundtrips/week on the A, E, F, J, Z, M, and G lines.
RELATED:
- April 27, 2019: MTA announces start date for L train shutdown
- MTA will add 1,000 new roundtrips each week during the L train shutdown
- MTA will run a temporary ferry service during L train shutdown
- MTA to launch 14th Street Select Bus Service to help move 50K more daily riders during L train shutdown
