New Bike Lanes Coming to Long Island City

After years of calls from advocates to improve bike safety in Long Island City, New York's Department of Transportation will install bike lanes on three busy corridors, reports Julianne Cuba.

Department of Transportation officials on Tuesday night unveiled their plans for the new safety infrastructure on 44th Drive, 11th Street, and Jackson Avenue, amid a citywide bike boom that’s echoing particularly loudly in Long Island City. Cyclists are now taking more than 6,400 trips across the Queensboro Bridge — which experienced the highest jump of daily riders across the four East River spans — and more than 2,000 trips per day across the Pulaski Bridge, according to DOT.

According to the article, "The work is part of former Mayor de Blasio ‘s Green Wave plan that was announced during the summer of 2019, a year when a total of 29 cyclists were killed on city streets."

"Left out of the proposal are improvements to Borden Avenue and the intersection at the foot of the Pulaski Bridge, which Shepard says is treacherous for cyclists and pedestrians alike. DOT did not address that issue of that intersection, where there have been 68 crashes since March, 2017, injuring six cyclists and 11 motorists, according to city stats."