The Grand Street protected bike lane is on its way back after three years out of commission during construction of the Third Water Tunnel, the biggest capital project in New York City history. The Department of Design and Construction has repaved Grand between Lafayette Street and the Bowery, and preliminary markings for the bike lane are visible.

Grand Street has Manhattan’s only crosstown protected bike lane of significant length outside of Central Park — a key eastbound route that links up with the Manhattan Bridge and the Williamsburg Bridge. For the last three-plus years, though, this part of Grand has been a non-stop construction zone, with pavement rough enough to untrue even the toughest spokes.

Now the street is smooth, except for a few blocks west of Lafayette, where crews are still at work. That stretch should get better pavement and protected bike lane markings soon, as work on the water tunnel shifts east to the section of Grand between the Bowery and Essex Street.

The thermoplast and green paint can’t come soon enough. Gotta stop this from becoming a habit: