Bike lane planned for 7th avenue

Like high-rise condos and Starbucks locations, the number of green-painted bike lanes in Manhattan seems to be ever-increasing. A mile-and-a-half long stretch of Seventh Avenue from Chelsea to Greenwich Village is next in line for reconfiguration, as laid out in the city Department of Transportation’s latest proposal.

Under the plan, DOT would install a parking-protected bike lane on Seventh Avenue from West 30th Street in Chelsea to Clarkson Street in Greenwich Village, where Seventh Avenue South becomes Varick Street. DOT would remove one lane of vehicle traffic to make room for a curbside bike lane on the left side of the southbound avenue, where cyclists would be shielded from passing cars by a buffer of parallel street parking and pedestrian crossing islands.

The number of lanes for motor vehicle traffic on Seventh Avenue would be reduced from four to three. According to DOT’s plan, the existing volume of vehicular traffic can be accommodated in three lanes and the narrowed road would discourage speeding. The plan would also result in the removal of about 37 parking spaces, accounting for about 22 percent of the corridor’s current parking capacity between 14th and 26th Streets.

This stretch of Seventh Avenue is a priority corridor under the city’s Vision Zero initiative, having been the site of one pedestrian fatality and 28 severe injuries to pedestrians and cyclists from 2011 to 2015, according to DOT data. DOT says that the project will make the avenue safer by reducing crossing distance with pedestrian islands and reducing bicyclists’ exposure to cars, trucks and buses.

The plan calls for the high-traffic intersections at 14th and 23rd Streets to be governed by split-phase traffic signals, which use separate green lights for cyclists and vehicles. Split-phase signals are intended to reduce the danger caused by drivers making left turns while cyclists in the left-hand bike lane attempt to proceed straight. Elsewhere, DOT will install “mixing zones,” in which cyclists and turning drivers use intersections simultaneously.

The protected bike lane could potentially be expanded in the future to extend further north of 30th Street on Seventh Avenue and south on Varick Street, DOT said Similar protected lanes are already installed on Sixth, Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Chelsea.

The department is seeking approval from the three community boards representing neighborhoods the project would impact. On April 19, DOT representatives presented the plan to Community Board 4’s transportation committee, which recommended that the full board approve the proposal at its next meeting on May 3. DOT is scheduled to present the plan to Community Board 5 on Monday and to Community Board 2 next month. DOT has not provided a time frame for the installation of the lanes.

Community Board 5 recently approved a separate DOT proposal to install a protected bike lane on Fifth Avenue between Eighth and 23rd Streets.