LOWER EAST SIDE — The Department of Transportation has revealed details of a plan to install protected bike lanes along Delancey Street leading to the Williamsburg Bridge ahead of the months-long L train shutdown, which the agency anticipates will kick off a surge in cycling on the busy thoroughfare.
The department plans to install a two-way Jersey barrier-protected bike lane along the south of the median on Delancey Street — it will start at Allen Street and ultimately connect cyclists to the bike lane on the Williamsburg Bridge.
To accommodate the bike lanes, one lane of eastbound vehicular traffic will be shaved off between Allen and Norfolk streets, reducing the number of lanes from four to three, though all four westbound lanes will remain, the department said.
A one-way eastbound bike lane will also run from Chrystie Street to Allen Street, connecting the new two-way bike lane on Chrystie Street to the Delancey Street path.
The department first revealed it would bring new bike lanes to Delancey Street in September, when it pitched the plan as part of a larger strategy to help mitigate the impact of the L train shutdown.
(Via New York City Department of Transportation)
The MTA recently revealed plans to cut down the duration of the shutdown from 18 to 15 months.
The bike lane crossing the Williamsburg Bridge is the most traveled lane crossing the East River, the agency had said, and the number of cyclists is expected to grow when the MTA shutters subway service on the L line between the boroughs in 2019.
An average of 7,580 cyclists traversed the bridge in 2016, revealing a 13 percent increase over five years, according to the DOT's presentation on the plan, which also notes numbers of cyclists have historically swelled when other modes of transportation are limited — the volume of bikes on the Manhattan Bridge increased following Hurricane Sandy by roughly 200 to 300 percent.
The MTA's larger plan to help ease commutes during the shutdown will be revealed in the coming months — though the MTA had previously projected a spring release, the DOT now says that plan may be unveiled in the spring.
The entirety of the presentation can be viewed on the DOT's website here.
Neighborhood residents and advocates have been pushing for a protected bike lane on the thoroughfare since 2010, when a woman riding her bike near the Williamsburg Bridge was struck and killed by a school bus.
Additionally, between 2010 and 2014 three pedestrians have been struck and killed on Delancey Street between Chrystie and Clinton streets, while 14 pedestrians have been severely injured and 11 cyclists have been severely injured, according to DOT data included in the presentation on the bike lane plan. The agency expects the addition of the protected lanes to make the stretch safer.
The plan was presented to Community Board 3's Transportation Committee last week, where it was largely praised by committee members and local cyclists. The committee will vote on the proposal next month.
