Lower Manhattan Is About To Get A Little More Bike-Friendly

New York City, USA - April 25, 2020: Normally crowded Brooklyn bridge is empty with very few people due to the coronavirus pandemic in New York City.

Lower Manhattan is getting a new protected bike lane and more this spring. The Department of Transportation is starting work on two bike-lane projects that will make it easier to get around by bike or scooter below Chambers Street. 

The biggest project involves installing a handful of protected bike lanes — a.k.a. lanes that are set aside from moving car traffic by a row of car parking. Those are coming to the west side of Church Street; 6th Avenue between Barclay and Lispenard Streets; on the east side of Varick Street; and on West Broadway between Laight and Barclay Streets. 

The DOT will also install barriers that help slow down cars that are turning and painted pedestrian islands at selected locations. 

The second project will install non-protected bike lanes — those are the bike lanes that are just painted on the street, and often taken over by idling cars and delivery trucks — in a few more locations. Those east-west lanes are coming to Murray Street, Park Place and Barclay Street from West Street to Broadway. 

According to the DOT, the projects will shorten crossing distances, discourage speeding and improve connections between the Brooklyn Bridge, World Trade Center and the Hudson River Greenway. 

Work is expected to be completed before summer. All these works will pair nicely with the other big bike improvement coming soon: the real bike lane that’s finally coming to the Brooklyn Bridge. 

UPDATE, April 27: Another Protected Bike Lane Is Coming To Whitehall Street

photo: iStock