Eyes on the Street: The Case of the Missing Bike Lanes, Part II

By Stephen Miller
Jul 31, 2015

Why does 9th St. still (as of last week) look like a runway for jumbo jets after resurfacing? @NYC_DOT @bradlander pic.twitter.com/9JmRNfwpHJ

— Joanna Oltman Smith (@jooltman) July 28, 2015

Turns out many of the city’s marquee Vision Zero projects aren’t the only streets missing bike lanes.

DOT has also allowed its existing bike lanes to fade away. When it does repave streets, the agency often takes months to add back lane striping. Even when it puts paint back on the ground, DOT doesn’t finish the job in some cases, seemingly leaving the bike lane lost to history.

Last month, we showed you two examples where DOT didn’t refresh the bike lane after repaving and putting back all the other street markings. But the problem is much bigger than just those two streets. Earlier this week, we asked for your photos with the #MissingBikeNYC hashtag. The results are depressing.

@StreetsblogNYC Lafayette at Grand #missingbikenyc pic.twitter.com/CIW6mPTvUx

— BrandonWC (@BrandonWC) July 29, 2015

@StreetsblogNYC Car knocked me off my #bike on this block. Used to have lanes. Canal & Allen, Manh. #missingbikenyc pic.twitter.com/MQrTlQsms9

— Brian Oconnell (@OcoBri) July 28, 2015

If New Yorkers can’t count on DOT to stripe paint in a timely fashion, the agency should issue a restriping schedule in addition to the weekly resurfacing schedule it releases.

Or maybe DOT should be honest with New Yorkers and remove these former bike lanes from its bike map.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Eyes on the Street: The Case of the Missing Bike Lanes

By Stephen Miller | Jun 10, 2015

The streets have been repaved. Lane striping, crosswalks, and stop bars have been added back. But there’s something missing from two streets in DOT’s bike network: bike lanes. In Williamsburg, Driggs Avenue has been repaved — but you would never know it’s a key bike connection from the Williamsburg Bridge. The street has all its stripes back except […]

Painted markings for 26th Street's forthcoming protected bike lane adjacent to the memorial bike for Dan Hanegby, killed biking there last June. Photo: Twitter/Jeff Novich

Eyes on the Street: Start the Countdown for Midtown’s Crosstown Protected Bike Lanes

By David Meyer | Jun 13, 2018

DOT crews were out installing preliminary markings on 26th Street today.

Eyes on the Street: New Bike Lanes Around Union Square

By David Meyer | Sep 28, 2016

DOT began installing new bike lanes leading to and around Union Square this week. The project — which will eventually include a two-way protected lane around the park’s eastern and northern edges — is not nearly complete, but fresh paint along Fourth Avenue between 12th and 15th heralds bigger changes on the way. In addition […]

The bike lane on 61st Street, looking west toward Lexington Avenue. Photo: Liam Jeffries

Eyes on the Street:
The East Side Crosstown Bike Lanes Re-Emerge

By Liam Jeffries | Aug 25, 2021

After much argument, the permanent 61st and 62nd Street cycle paths are here. Sort of.

Eyes on the Street: NYPD Cedes 29th Street Protected Bike Lane to Illegally Parked Drivers

By Brad Aaron | Aug 8, 2018

It took two deaths to get DOT to install protected bike lanes on 26th and 29th streets in Midtown. Now that the lanes are in, what will it take for NYPD and DOT to keep them clear?

DOT’s Latest Missed Opportunity for Protected Bike Lanes

By Stephen Miller | Jun 4, 2015

Eighth Street, which cuts eastbound across Greenwich Village just above Washington Square Park, had two traffic lanes until recently. A road diet by the Department of Transportation dropped it to one lane and added new pedestrian crossings. Left out of the redesign: bike lanes. Instead, there are “extra-wide parking lanes” that also accommodate double-parked drivers. Last November, the plan […]