BY JASON COHEN
The NYC Department of
Transportation (DOT) presented
its plan last week to
improve bus speeds along University
Avenue and to install
protected bike lanes, however
members of the Community
Board 5 Municipal Services
Committee had mixed feelings
about the proposal.
University Avenue is a
notoriously dangerous thoroughfare
for cyclists, drivers
and pedestrians. From 2014 to
2018, 197 people have been injured,
including four severely
and two killed, on a 0.6-mile
stretch of University Avenue,
from East Tremont Avenue
to East 181st Street. This section
of University Avenue also
ranks in the top 33% of all
Bronx roadways for fatalities
or severe injuries.
In 2020, of the 22 cyclists
killed citywide, eight were in
the Bronx.
“Improving safety is our
number one goal and it’s something
we would like to address
on the University Avenue corridor,”
said Paula Rubira, a
DOT senior project manager.
Currently, University Avenue
north of Tremont Avenue
has four travel lanes and two
parking lanes, but under the
DOT’s proposed plan there
would be a two-way bike path
on the eastern curb, dedicated
bus lanes in each direction
and a concrete boarding island
at northbound bus stops.
Additionally, there will be a
two-way bike path on the eastern
curb and one bus lane and
one travel lane in each direction
from University Avenue,
from 179th Street/Burnside
Avenue to 181st Street. DOT is
also exploring a two-way bike
path on the eastern curb and
bike path transitions off University
Avenue and onto the
Aqueduct Walk, from Tremont
Avenue to 181st Street.
“We are trying to keep cyclists
off the sidewalk,” said
DOT Deputy Borough Commissioner
Keith Kalb.
University Avenue provides
connections between
protected bike lanes on University
Avenue (south of
Tremont Avenue) and the Aqueduct
Walk, to major destinations
including the Washington
University Avenue is a notoriously dangerous thoroughfare for cyclists, drivers and pedestrians. From 2014 to
2018, 197 people have been injured on a 0.6-mile stretch of University Avenue, from East Tremont Avenue to
East 181st Street. Photo courtesy NYC DOT
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, O 50 CT. 22-28, 2021 BTR
Avenue Bridge and Bronx
Community College, and future
connections to the Fordham
Area Bike Network.
However, as many cars
often drive and park in protected
bike lanes, not all of
CB 5 members are in favor of
adding more bike lanes. Board
member Nero Graham Jr.,
said he is for protected bike
lanes, although they often go
unused.
“They don’t use the protected
bike lanes,” he said.
“They ride on our sidewalk.
I think what we need to do is
educate people who are riding
the bikes.”
While protected bike lanes
are designed to keep cyclists
safer, board member Cheryl
Westbrook is worried that people
riding scooters may use
the lanes and cause accidents
with cyclists. She has seen this
fi rsthand, Westbrook said.
If people on scooters and
cars don’t obey the traffi c laws,
then the protected bike lanes
are meaningless, she said.
Not everyone on the board
was against more bike lanes,
however. Lucia Deng, a board
member, said over the long
haul adding protected bike
lanes will only help cyclists
riding in the Aqueduct Walk.
Kalb told the board the
DOT is trying to complete
the improvements before
winter.
CB 5 has mixed feelings
on protected bike lanes
James E. MaQuade, Owner
Family Owned & Operated for over 60 years
3535 East Tremont Avenue
Bronx, New York
718-792-0270
www.schuylerhill.com
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