NYC’s ‘Green Wave’ rolls forward with new protected bike lanes

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The city’s “Green Wave” inches forward with more protected bike lanes and signal-timing measures

In response to an uptick in cyclist deaths, the city announced a “Green Wave” plan back in July: A five-year initiative that aims to install 30 miles of protected bike lanes per year, adjust signal-timing to allow steady speeds for cyclists, redesign 50 intersections with a history of collisions, and other efforts. So what has the city done so far?

This week, as part of that initiative, the Department of Transportation (DOT) unveiled two new protected bike lanes in East New York on Fountain Avenue, between Pitkin and Seaview avenues. In July, as part of Vision Zero, the city lowered speed limits on Linden Boulevard, where the new protected bike lanes on Fountain Avenue intersect from 30 to 25 miles per hour. According to the DOT, there have been 14 traffic fatalities on that corridor since 2013.

After retiming traffic lights along Hoyt and Bond streets in Boerum Hill (to turn green for a seamless ride for those biking at the typical 15 miles per hour), the DOT noticed an increase in the number of cyclists on bike lanes during rush hour, among other positive results. Now, given its success on those corridors, the DOT announced that it will do the same on Brooklyn’s Clinton Street, Queens’s 43rd Avenue, and Manhattan’s Prince Street.

Also, more protected bike lanes will come to Brooklyn before the year ends: on Fourth Avenue, Shore Parkway, and Seventh Avenue.

And in other news...

• The Wall Street “Charging Bull” statue underwent a (costly) repair, after a man struck the statue with a metal banjo a month ago.
• The Upper West Side’s waterfront Boat Basin Cafe is closing due to long-planned construction work on the Riverside Park rotunda.
• Wondering who your neighbors are supporting in the 2020 election? RentHop analyzed candidates’s fundraising per zip code and created an interactive map that shows who your neighbors have donated to. Bernie Sanders has the highest number of unique donations in NYC so far this year, followed by Pete Buttigieg, and Elizabeth Warren.
• A mural by artist Keith Haring was cut from an Upper West Side community center wall and will be auctioned—and it could be sold for up to $5 million.
• Construction spending in NYC is expected to increase 10 percent by the end of the year, getting to $61.5 billion (the highest-ever amount), according to the New York Building Congress.
• And, finally, here’s yet another post from SubwayCreatures on the outrageous things that riders bring on the train: