After a close Community Board vote of approval, the DOT will soon begin installing protected bike lanes on a stretch of Columbus Avenue between 96th and 77th Streets. The changes [pdf] are very similar to those made to parts of Eighth Avenue, Ninth Avenue, and Grand Street in Manhattan. The three 12 feet wide driving lanes will be narrowed to 10 feet wide, which is the standard for Manhattan, and a buffer lane of parked cars will protect the bike lane from traffic. At high-traffic intersections, the city will install "pedestrian refuge islands" with separate bike traffic signals and left turn lanes. If successful, it's likely that the protected bike lane model will be expanded all the way down to Ninth Avenue.
After facing resistance from the Community Board transportation committee, the full board approved the changes in a close 23-19 vote. The meeting was packed with bike lane advocates, including Matthew "Private Joker" Modine, a longtime cycling advocate who told the board, "Biking is something this city has fallen in love with. If I hadn’t had a bike I don’t know what I would have done. I had no money. I couldn’t even afford a token." And though local businesses have been worried about being able to receive truck deliveries, the board sided with Modine, and a cheer rose up from the crowd of more than 100 people who sat through the debate, the West Side Independent reports.
In a thorough analysis, Streetsblog writes that "the fact that the vote came down to the wire is also a testament to the sheer stubbornness behind many board members' opposition to bike lanes... According to CB 7 chair Mel Wymore, the board received 'an overwhelming amount of support' for protected lanes. Letters, e-mails, and phone calls in support of the lanes had poured in, while the opposition was silent. Noting how few opponents of protected lanes had spoken at any of the board's public meetings, Wymore observed that 'there were more people opposed on the community board than in the community.' "
