Cyclists in Glendale, Middle Village, Maspeth and Ridgewood may soon have more lanes for pedaling.
Phase two of the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) plan to bring a comprehensive network of bike lanes to Community Board 5 (CB 5) is set to begin implementation on Oct. 1. After that, even more bike lanes could be on the horizon with a potential phase three.
Representatives from the DOT proposed a third phase consisting of three bike lane options to expand the network around the CB 5 neighborhoods during the board’s Transportation and Public Transit Services committees combined meeting on Tuesday night.
“What I would like to discuss tonight are three different ideas on how to continue to expand this network, to make connections into other neighborhoods and to improve mobility options for cyclists,” said Aaron Fraint, DOT project manager.
The three corridors the DOT has proposed in this third phase are 69th Street from Eliot Avenue to Maurice Avenue; 80th Street from Juniper Boulevard North to 57th Avenue; and Juniper Boulevard North from Lutheran Avenue to Dry Harbor Road.
Each of these corridors require their own unique type of bike lanes.
The strip of 69th Street that the DOT has identified as a potential bike lane route has varying widths, requiring the DOT to implement a series of bike lanes, parking lane stripes and shared lanes along the roadway.
For 80th Street, DOT is proposing adding a bike lane in both directions, keeping both travel lanes, having an 8-foot parking lane and adding in a 4-foot flush median.
The DOT has put forth two options for the proposal of the Juniper Boulevard North section: creating a standard configuration of a bike lane in both directions or adding a parking protected two-way bike path along the edge of Juniper Valley Park.
However, the two-way bike lane option does come with a caveat.
“Anywhere that we have a bicycle path where motor vehicle drivers are allowed to cross the path, we have to do something called a mixing zone,” Fraint said. “Basically it’s about five car lengths where you remove parking and you sort of adjust the sight lines of the motorist as well as the cyclist, and you give them space to cross over and safely negotiate the space at the same time.”
The two-way bike lane would intersect with 80th Street and Dry Harbor Road, requiring two mixing zones. This would cause the loss of approximately 10 parking spaces to accommodate both mixing zones.
The board can choose between either option, or decide that no bike lanes should be installed at this location.
This proposal is still in the planning phase and will not see any implementation until phase two of the plan is complete and the committees sign off on the changes they would like to see.
