43rd Avenue. near 48th Street in 2019 (File Photo: Nathaly Pesantez)
March 24, 2020 By Christian Murray
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday that the City has adjusted the traffic light sequences on 43rd Avenue to cycling speed as part of the Vision Zero Program.
He made the announcement while outlining a number of transportation measures the city is taking as it battles the spread of coronavirus. These included installing temporary protected bicycle lanes along a number of avenues and streets in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
The Mayor announced in October that he planned to adjust the timing of the traffic lights on 43rd Avenue as part of the city’s “Green Wave.” The traffic lights have now been set on 43rd Avenue—between 35th to 51st Streets– to accommodate cyclists traveling at about 15 miles per hour.
Typically, lights turn green to accommodate a car driving at the legal speed limit of 20 miles per hour on the thoroughfare.
Green Wave Signaling was introduced as a pilot program along Hoyt and Bond Streets in Brooklyn at the beginning of 2019. The mayor’s office says that the change increased bike traffic on both streets and made journeys quicker, safer and less stressful for cyclists—since it reduced stoppages.
The pilot program also saw vehicle speeds drop slightly, according to the mayor’s office.
