My run today to the Williamsburg Bridge took me down 1st Ave and then Allen St to Delancey. There has been a bike lane on Allen St for as long as I’ve been running down there, but it is a bit of a joke. Lane was blocked in a couple of spots by long term construction, and in much of the rest of the area, the lane markings have long since faded away or been obliterated by construction. So today, I was pleasantly suprised to see new chalked markings on Allen. Looks like the new bike lane will be on the inside, along the ‘mall’, and protected from traffic by a buffer zone. Car traffic will be reduced to 2 lanes, from the current 3.
I wonder whether having the bike lane on the inside of the street, at the median, will present another set of problems, namely getting into and out of the the lane, but I think the buffered lane will be a big improvement. I only hope they get the new paint down quickly, as there is definitely confusion out there. Some drivers were respecting the old lanes, and some were respecting the chalked outline of the new lanes. That is clearly a recipe for disaster. More info on the overall plan from The Lo-Down.
I’ll be running down Allen lots of times as I continue my training for the New York City Marathon. Looking forward to trying out the new configuration when it is all done! On a similar note, I’m still loving the bike lane on Ave A. It really has made Ave A more orderly in terms of car traffic, and much, much safer for runners and bikers.
