St. Nicholas Avenue Will Get New Bike Lane In 2020, City Says

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — A bike lane on St. Nicholas Avenue will be one of eight Manhattan bike paths the city will complete this year, officials said this week.

A protected bike lane from West 165th to 170th streets on the corridor is one of the projects transportation officials will focus on finishing in 2020 as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Green Wave plan, which he introduced last year in a response to a spike in cyclist deaths on New York City streets.

The St. Nicholas lane will include lanes going both ways for cyclists and will be added to the north side of the street, according to the city.

Transportation officials told Community Board 12's Traffic and Transportation Committee last year that adding the bike lane would not significantly impact traffic since only about 60 cars per hour use the road at peak times, which officials consider low-usage.

The officials also said that the project will mean an overall gain in parking spots for the area.

The St. Nicholas path is one of eight in Manhattan that the city plans to complete this year as part of its plan to add 30 more miles of protected bike lanes in 2020. The city built 21.4 miles of new protected bike lanes in 2019, according to a DOT report released Wednesday.

Here are where the other bike lanes will go:

• 6th Avenue, Midtown: A protected lane along 6th Avenue will be added in Midtown, extending the existing uptown lane from Herald Square to Central Park.

• Central Park West, Upper West Side: The second phase of this uptown lane will be completed in 2020, extending to 110thStreet.

• 5th Avenue, Harlem: A new two-way protected lane will be installed from 120th to 110th Streets connecting Central Park and Marcus Garvey Park.

• St Nicholas Avenue, Washington Heights: Protected lanes will be added in both directions between 165th and 170th Streets.

• Manhattan Waterfront Greenway connection, Lower East Side: A new protected route will be added in Alphabet City to accommodate greenway riders during East River Park construction.

• Lower Manhattan Network: DOT will fill in the protected-lane network on several critical corridors in Lower Manhattan including lower Broadway, Whitehall Street, West Broadway, Varick Street, Church Street and 6th Avenue.

• Queensboro Bridge Connectors, Midtown: PBLs will be added to several crosstown approaches to the bridge.

• Additional Crosstown Lanes, Midtown: DOT is finalizing the most feasible streets on which to add a new set of crosstown lanes to complement the crosstown lanes that have been added since 2018 on 26th/29th and 52nd/ 55th Streets.