Judge Dismisses Lawsuit To Block Central Park West Bike Lane

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A lawsuit attempting to block the implementation of a protected bike lane on Central Park West was dismissed by a state judge Thursday, according to court records and reports.

New York Supreme Court Justice Lynn Kolter ruled that the city did not have to conduct a full environmental review with state and city agencies to create the protected bike lane on Central Park West because the avenue already had an unprotected lane. Legally, the project can only be interpreted as a "reorganization of parking and a pre-existing bike lane," which would not set off an environmental review, Kolter wrote in Thursday's ruling.

The state judge also pointed out that the city Department of Transportation generally does not conduct full environmental reviews under the State Environmental Quality Review Act because the projects generally do not require them. Only projects that are projected to have "significant adverse environmental impacts" required the review.

Streetsblog New York first reported on the dismissal.

DOT Comissioner Polly Trottenberg said the agency was "grateful" for the ruling and is expected to complete the new bike lane in the spring.

"DOT is grateful for the court’s decision that allows our critical safety project along Central Park West to continue moving forward. As we have seen so many times under Vision Zero, protected bike lanes save lives. The lane along Central Park West is now complete up to West 77th Street, and we expect to finish installing the lane up to West 110th Street in the spring," Trottenberg said in a statement.

City workers began installing the new bike lane design on Central Park west in July after the project received approval from Community Board 7. The plan, which eliminates 400 parking spots to create a protected bike lane on Central Park West from West 59th to 110th streets, was also backed by local elected officials. Lost parking spots will be replaced by a 7-foot-wide buffer zone equipped with flexible delineators to separate cars from cyclists. Traffic lanes will not be removed from the avenue, according to the city.

The Upper West Side community board and elected officials asked the Department of Transportation to develop plans for a protected lane on the parkside avenue following the 2018 death of Australian tourist Madison Jane Lyden. Lyden was riding in the unprotected bike lane when she was forced to swerve into Central Park West, where she was hit by a truck, because her path was blocked by a cab dropping off a passenger on the east side of the avenue.

Safe streets activists celebrated Thursday's ruling as a win for "progress instead of paralysis," Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Danny Harris said in a statement.

"In order to rise to the challenges our city faces, from chronic traffic congestion, inequitable transit options, and a public health crisis wrought by car and truck traffic, our city must continue to make rational transportation policy - prioritizing the movement of New Yorkers by walking, biking, and public transit," Harris said in a statement.